Critical Beat
by Shia R. N
Summary: He didn't know the feeling thundering through him. Well, he knew it, but the feeling itself was entirely foreign to him. His thundering heart, slightly sweating palms, and the pulsing in his back as his wings begged to be released...Sequel to TrivialPulse
1. Chapter 1

Hello anybody reading this! Well, as promised, here's Critical Beat! The (not so) long awaited sequel to Trivial Pulse! I had planned to wait a little while in between the two stories (To write some one-shots for my other account) but I simply couldn't stay away from my dearest Ayumu for too long! Anyway... Hopefully future chapters will be longer than this, but here's chapter one! Please enjoy!

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis, or it's characters, But I do own a few of the characters in this story (and if you're a true P.O.T. Fan, you'll know which ones they are without having to think about it).

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Ayumu Tezuka didn't know the feeling thundering through him. Well, yes, he knew what it _was_, but the feeling itself was entirely foreign to him. His thundering heart, slightly seating palms, and the pulsing in his back as his wings begged to be released were each individually familiar to him, but when you put them together, they created something entirely different compared to what he was used to feeling. This new emotion, which seemed to be primarily nervousness, was like a new creature, rearing it's head on him and threatening to swallow him whole. Still, none of what Ayumu felt showed in his expression at all.

That was his major problem: not being able to properly express himself. Perhaps if he could, someone would see how he was feeling and explain to him what he should do. At the same time, however, Ayumu feared someone figuring out how he was feeling, because with his luck, that person would be _him_, the one person whom he _really_ didn't want to find out. There would be no way he could face school ever again if _he_ found out about his feelings. That would simply be disastrous.

So, he held his breath and kept his arms set to his side as _he_ passed, not allowing any emotion onto his face as he tried to keep his wings under control. They were twitching horribly with the close proximity and his out of control emotions, but he could do nothing about it for the next five minutes, or until practice was over. Atsuko gave him a knowing smile from where she stood, chattering with her friends about all the 'hot' tennis players at their school, but he knew as well as she did that she didn't really know what was going on.

She had an idea, of course, but he seriously doubted that she knew everything. She knew that he was itching to get out of there, to fly as high as he could possibly go and feel the wind in his hair and on his face, but she didn't know why, other than the fact that they were nearly out of school and they always went flying at the 'Trivial Property' after school. She would never know, and probably never believe, that he was in love.

With a certain Sora Noboru, vice captain of the tennis club, and a junior.

It worried him, because he had learned from his parents and from Eiji-oji-san that Positives only fell in love once. So, that left him with two answers to his predicament: either, A) he wasn't really in _love_ (Taka-oji-san had explained to him that _crushes_ could happen more than once) or B) he was fated to remain lonely for the rest of his life. After all, what were the chances of the person you loved loving you back? Especially when that person was the same gender as you...

No one would no it from looking at him, but he was genuinely depressed at both of those possibilities. He wanted the think, no, he _knew_ that he was in love with Noboru-senpai. There was no doubting it. When he had first started feeling this way, he had gone to the one person he could trust not to either judge, over-react or tell his parents. Oshitari-sensei.

Though Oshitari-sensei was not really one of his parents' best friends, the college professor had been kind to him when he was very young, still living on the Trivial Property. He and Atsuko had developed much faster mentally than normal children, this he knew, but Yuushi Oshitari had never treated him differently, and in fact had treated him as a near-equal when he began holding mental conversations with him. His parents had his respect, Taka-oji-chan had his deep trust, and Ryoma-oji-chan was his help with everything considering his power, but Oshitari-sensei... No one was ever able to answer his questions quite as insightfully as Oshitari-sensei. Gakuto-chan (And Gakuto insisted that he call his that, something about Mukahi-san being his father, if Ayumu recalled correctly) was also always very kind to him, never treating him like a nuisance when he stole Oshitari-sensei away from up to hours at a time.

Actually, Ayumu suspected that Gakuto-chan was actually grateful to him, because with their little two-year-old and Oshitari-sensei (who could act just like a small child if he wanted to, Ayumu had seen it himself) to take care of, he was sure that Gakuto-chan could become very tired out sometimes if not given a break. Ayumu sighed to himself as he thought about his last visit to see Oshitari-sensei, which was, consequently, the time he had spoken about his feelings for his senpai.

_"Ayumu-kun?" Yuushi greeted with a small smile on his lips. "To what do I owe this--"_

_Ayumu rarely interrupted, or talked for that matter, but this time he did, "Sensei, I think I'm in love."_

_Yuushi's eyes looked amused, and he moved in the doorway to let Ayumu enter. "Gakuto and little Narumi are out grocery shopping, and Gakuto made me stay here." Yuushi pouted a bit at this. Ayumu figured that Yuushi had been pestering him about some 'stupid tensai thing', as Gakuto would have so eloquently put it. "So, we have plenty of time to talk. Come."_

_Ayumu followed patiently into a familiar sitting room, sitting across from the older man at a low table. Both of them sat formal style, both very used to this and never making anything too casual unless the situations called for it. Yuushi smiled kindly at him, and Ayumu took it as a sign to continue speaking._

_("I think I'm in love,") He told him telepathically. Yuushi interrupted him before he could continue._

_"Ayumu, this is a very important matter, can't you speak out loud?"_

_("I can't. I'll stutter and it won't come out right. That's what happens whenever I try to talk about him or to him.") Ayumu admitted this with a slightly ashamed expression. A normal person wouldn't see it, but Yuushi had been studying his emotional faces for all of the (nearly) twelve years of his life, and he recognized it instantly._

_"I see. Go ahead and continue then."_

_("I just... I really think that I love him, Sensei.")_

_"How do you feel around him?"_

_("Warm,") was Ayumu's immediate answer, but then he thought about how to explain it in a way that actually made sense, ("At ease, but nervous. I'm constantly at ends with myself about it. I _want_ to talk to him, but I can't do it. Not like the way I can't talk well with other people, like I know what to say, and yet I get so nervous about saying the wrong thing, I get all tongue-tied. And then I end up just giving him short answers and I think that he thinks I hate him.")_

_Yuushi looked at him thoughtfully. "Your hand feel sweaty, and you can't think about anything but him?"_

_"Exactly," Ayumu said it out loud this time, feeling a bit less nervous now that the main part of his problem was out in the open. Yuushi looked at him with an expression that Ayumu couldn't understand, and he wasn't about to listen to Yuushi's thoughts unbidden. _

_"Well, Ayumu, I can't tell you whether you're in love or not," Ayumu felt distraught, though he doubted anyone would know from looking at his stoic expression. Yuushi continued, placing a hand on Ayumu's head in a comforting gesture, "No one can really tell you if you're in love or not, you'll have to figure out for yourself."_

_"... Thank you, Oshitari-sensei," Ayumu said, and stood up before bowing._

_"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Yuushi asked pleasantly, "I'm sure Gakuto and Narumi would love to see you."_

_Ayumu shook his head. "I should go home." Yuushi walked him the door and with a 'Goodbye, Sensei', Ayumu was gone._

"Tezuka-kun?"

The voice snapped him out of his reverie and he looked up at the object of many of his dreams lately, his eyes only a slight fraction wider because of his surprise. Sora Noboru looked down at him with a slightly curious expression. "Are you okay, Tezuka-kun? You've been spacing out this entire time," he chuckled, "More than usual, I mean."

"I'm fine," Ayumu said quietly standing up from where he had been leaned back against the fence, not daring to take the hand Sora offered to him. Chocolate-brown eyes regarded him with a curious glimmer, but Sora said nothing. Surely, by now, he was used to Ayumu acting cold towards him. Ayumu wouldn't know, as, like his father, Sora's mind was blocked of to him. He didn't understand it, but at the same time he was grateful for it, because hearing Sora's thoughts about how he disliked him or about how he liked some random girl around school would hurt too much. It wasn't really Ayumu's fault that he had to be cold towards him though, was it? No, not at all. Even if Ayumu _could_ talk to people in a normal fashion, there was no way that he could be comfortable with Noboru-senpai, and touching his hand would definitely make his already throbbing wings erupt from his back.

And that would be simply disastrous. To not only have Sora hate him, but have him think about him as a _freak_... It would mean the end of his world.

"You should go change," Sora suggested, and Ayumu nodded, not daring to look into those captivating eyes.

"Hai, Fukubuchou," Ayumu answered, and headed back towards the locker rooms. When he finished changing, Atsuko was outside waiting for him. She smiled when she saw him and offered her hand for him to take. No matter how old they got, this habit never seemed to have left them: holding hands as they walked home. So, he took the hand offered to him and they walked home, Ayumu listening as his energetic sister chattered about her day with reckless abandon. It made Ayumu want to smile and cry at the same time.

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Shusuke Tezuka watched his children as they flitted through the sky, a mix of feathers and flesh against a darkening sky. Having had enough flying himself, he merely stood beside his husband, watching the twins with one thought on his mind.

"Ayumu is acting strangely, don't you think?" He asked softly, a thoughtful look on his face. Kunimitsu glanced at him with an unreadable expression before turning back to watch as Ayumu pulled out of a deep dive, much deeper than he would have usually gone.

"He is," Kunimitsu agreed, "But we can do nothing until he comes to us."

Shusuke pouted. "It's so depressing, it seems it was just yesterday that they were calling me 'Mama' and telling me everything."

"There's nothing wrong with them deciding to call you 'Daddy', Shusuke," Kunimitsu reprimanded in a gentle voice, "And they have to grow up at some point."

Shusuke sighed. "I know, but---" Shusuke's own gasp cut off his statement as he saw Ayumu suddenly fall out of the sky.

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Atsuko watched in horror as her twin brother simply closed his eyes and began to fall, with increasing speed, towards the ground. Black wings wrapping around his pale body, Ayumu plummeted downwards without seeming to even be conscious of it. No, it was as if he was _unconscious_. Atsuko dived forward, calling out his name, but no reaction came from her brother and he was falling, falling much too quickly for her to catch up, and even if she did, what were the chances she was strong enough to stop him and still stay in the air herself? Just before her worries became too much, she saw her father sweep in and take the young boy into his arms, dark wings beating strongly, rustling the grass on the too-close-for-comfort ground. Shusuke was then by Kunimitsu's side, placing a nearly-feminine looking hand on Ayumu's forehead.

"He's burning up," He said, looking worried, though he tried to keep it from showing for Atsuko's state.

"He _was_ acting kind of strangely today," Atsuko fidgeted, feeling guilty for not noticing her brother's currently-weak state. "And his hand was so_ cold_."

"Don't feel bad, 'Suko-chan," Shusuke smiled at his daughter kindly, "It's not your fault, you know."

Atsuko nodded, though she didn't look very convinced.

"I'll take him home," Kunimitsu said, looking incredibly calm for someone holding their unconscious-could-have-died son. "You should call Dr. Hatchett." Shusuke answered with a quiet 'yes', and then Kunimitsu took off in the direction of their house.

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"Physically, other than the fever and some exhaustion, he's perfectly healthy," Dr. Hatchett said, looking slightly troubled. "The only thing I can really think of would lack of sleep, possibly due to stress." He sighed, rubbing his temples softly, "To be honest, it's not very surprising. Ayumu-kun keeps everything inside, even if he's not really meaning too. That results in stress, and stress can attack the body when left to build."

"We'd... Noticed that something was going on," Shusuke admitted, "But we can't talk to Ayumu unless he talks to us about it first. It's his life, and even if it's his health..."

"He would never tell us," Kunimitsu said resolutely, "Not if we asked him directly.

Ayumu closes up when he feels threatened."

"Nya... Maybe," Eiji, who had come over when he heard that Ayumu was sick, cut in, "It has to do with the Critical Beat."

The others looked at him with blank expressions and Eiji fumed adorably.

"You know what I'm talking about!" He insisted, and looked surprised when no one answered him or even looked as if the answer had dawned on them. "You know, the Critical Beat! When you meet that one person you love, that one person we positives ever get the chance to meet, and your heart's all THUMP! THUMP! 'Critical Beat', I thought it was obvious."

Shusuke refrained from mentioning that Eiji shouldn't simply make up terms and expect other people to understand, because he realized that his best friend might be on to something. "Little Ayumu... In love..."

"It's possible," Kunimitsu nodded. "Ayumu wouldn't know what to do if he started feeling like that for someone, even if it was just 'like' that he was dealing with."

"He would want to know if it were love or not for sure before doing anything about it..." Fuji continued. "So, certainly he would ask someone, but never us, so..."

It hit all four of them at the same time and with different levels of emotion, they all said, "Oshitari."

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"Ayumu-kun came to me in confidence," Yuushi said calmly, once more repeating what he had said many times before to those over the phone. "He trusts me not to reveal what we talked about, and I will not."

"Please, Oshitari-san," Shusuke's voice sounded tired over the phone, "For the sake of his health. He passed out while _in the air_ today. Even Dr. Hatchett is saying that it might be stress related. Wouldn't you want to know if it were your little Narumi who could have been hurt?"

Images of his little girl, sweet and Gakuto-like in appearance, with his bat wings and Gakuto's soft, snow white rabbit ears. Thoughts of his baby girl being hurt were nearly physically painful, and for several moments, Yuushi battled with himself about telling them what Ayumu had told him, not even a week ago, about this mysterious, unnamed boy at his middle school. Still, Ayumu trusted him not to reveal the subjects of there talks to anyone else, and he would not shatter that trust (as Ayumu's trust was rare and hard to receive in the first place) now, when he had been told something that could very well shape the rest of the young half-bird's life.

"Ask Ayumu," He said, and could almost see Shusuke's disappointment, "Don't ask directly, but ask him if he's okay. If he wants to tell you, he will. I will not tell you what he confided in me, unless this health pattern continues.

"... Alright, Goodbye, Oshitari-san."

"Goodbye." And hung up with a sigh.

Warm arms wrapped around him as a petite body pressed itself against his back. He smiled slightly as he placed his hand on Gakuto's hands, clasped comfortably on his stomach, and whispered a quiet "Thank you".

"I love you," Gakuto replied.

"I know," Yuushi chuckled when Gakuto dug his sharp little nails into his stomach. "I'm only joking," he assured him. "I love you, too."

He turned then, lowering his mouth to Gakuto's and they kissed leisurely for a few moments. When they parted, Gakuto gave him a devious looking grin. "Narumi's asleep and I'm not tired at all," he said suggestively.

"Perhaps you should go to bed anyway," Yuushi teased, but just before Gakuto could pull him down for another, more heated kiss, a baby cried in the other room, causing them both to separate.

Gakuto was peeved, as anyone could see simply by looking at his face. Still, as he followed Yuushi into the nursery and saw his hold their baby girl, everything was fine.

It was worth it.

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When Ayumu woke, it was dark outside. He was confused by the fact that he was in his bed, when the last thing that he remembered was the wind whipping through his hair as he flew around the grounds at the Trivial Property. His parents and Atsuko were there... And Atsuko and he were doing aerial stunts near the lake, Kunimitsu and Shusuke watching... He had just pulled out of a very deep dive (deeper than he had meant to go, because his thoughts were so full of a certain sempai of his) and then... Nothing. He couldn't remember anything after that.

_"Papa?"_ He reached out with his mind, as his head felt too heavy to actually get up. Kunimitsu was in there with him nearly immediately. _"What happened?"_

"You passed out," Kunimitsu told him softly, running his fingers delicately over his young son's forehead. "Who are you feeling?"

_"... I've been better,"_ Ayumu admitted. "_My head hurts, and I'm hungry, but I'll be okay."_

"We saved you some dinner," Kunimitsu wisely didn't mention that none of the rest of them had been able to eat, having been so nervous about Ayumu's condition. "Do you want me to heat it up for you?"

Ayumu nodded. _"What..." _he shook his head, resulting in mild pain, "What time is it?"

"Nine thirty," Kunimitsu answered, and then left the room to retrieve the food. Immediately, Shusuke was in the room and at his side, looking concerned.

"Ayumu, how are you? Your head hurts, doesn't it? Do you want me to take it away for you?" Ah, right. Shusuke could feel the pain of those he had taken pain from before. Of course he knew his head hurt.

"No thank you, Mama," he said, adding the 'mama' just to see Shusuke smile. "I'll be fine."

It was one of the longer sentences Shusuke had ever heard the little blue-eyed boy say, so he did not persist, merely watched as Kunimitsu brought the food and Ayumu clapped his hands together softly, whispering, "Itadakimasu."

Before his son actually started to eat, however, Shusuke put a hand on the small wrist and said, "You know you can always talk to us, right, Ayumu?"

"Of course," Ayumu said, the very smallest of smiles on his face.

_'It's true, I can tell them anything,' _Ayumu thought to himself as he began to eat slowly, savoring the curry they had brought him, _'Anything but this.'_

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Chapter Art-

Don't expect this every time, I'll only do it when I feel like it. Still, here is a picture for this chapter. Of Ayumu, when he is falling from the sky. Just remove the spaces!

http:// img222 . Imageshack . Us / img222 / 5522 / imag0053zi9 . jpg


	2. Chapter 2

Hello anybody reading this! Short again... Sorry, but it seemed like a good place to leave it.

Immortal Tigress- -Laughs.- I would do my best not to let OCs take over, but it _is_ pretty much a story about OCs. Also, all of the positives get together for Christmas and things like that to hold a party at the Property, so you'll see them again, no worries. Thank you for your review!

MintIceCream- I'm not sure yet if I am going to make him oviparous, but once I know, I'll tell you, promise. As for Atsuko, I suppose it would depend on who her 'mate' was. There's a fifty-fifty chance, I'd say.

Faith Lane- I did _say_ I was doing a sequel. -Laughs.-

KiriharaAkaya- Thank you very much. I'll update now...

Lucky.Syuusuke.Yukimura- Little Narumi, Gakuto and Yuushi's child, is like a mini Gakuto, with Yuushi's wings. To answer your question then, her hair is red.

Lieyan- Shusuke's adorable, mother or not.

Purplerainn- Please do not get the wrong impression, Ayumu is not 'chatty' at all. He only chatters when he is _very_ comfortable with someone.

Vierblith- -Shrugs- I like Het fics too, but Ayumu... Just not right. I don't know why, but he just had to be... I dunno... I have no real reason I guess, it just felt right to make him like a guy. Also, I had Shusuke take Tezuka's last name because... With Shusuke's father being... Who he is, it probably wouldn't turn out right, you know?

Shimizu Miki- Thank you very much for your review! Unfortunately, you'll have to wait to have your questions answered!

Wishing Star67- More than Trivial Pulse? I'll consider that an accomplishment!

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis, or it's characters, But I do own a few of the characters in this story (and if you're a true P.O.T. Fan, you'll know which ones they are without having to think about it).

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The next day, Ayumu was forced to stay home, and Atsuko, for the first time in her life, went to school alone. It felt strange to walk to school without her twin's hand in hers, and she felt cold because of it. She spent the morning with her friends near the tennis courts, but it just wasn't the same without having Ayumu there to meet her eyes every once in a while and make some cryptic mental comment about her 'boy-obsessed' friends. He never meant to be funny when he did this, but it never failed to make Atsuko smile when he did.

Still, he wasn't around, and it was almost boring to just listen to her friends blabber non-intelligently about one boy or another. Atsuko liked boys, and she likes talking about boys, but, honestly, she wasn't entirely sure how twelve year old girls could talk about them non-stop everyday of their lives. She figured that it had something to do with being normal.

Now, Ayumu might not have been _quite_ as smart as her dearest brother, but she had developed just as quickly as he had in mental capacity, and without him around, everyone else seemed just a little bit... Stupid? Yes, she decided that, rude as it was, that word fit well. With Ayumu around, she could over look it, because if she wanted to have an intelligent (if mostly one-sided) conversation with someone, she need only send out a thought to her brother, and he would answer her in short, equally intelligent responses. She really missed him, and it had hardly been an hour since they had parted...

The bell rang then, signaling that they had five minutes to get to class. Her group of friends began to split up and head towards the school building, and she went to follow, but a voice stopped her.

"Tezuka-san!" She turned at her name being spoken, and was mildly surprised to see Sora Noboru standing there, looking like he had changed in a hurry in order to catch her before class.

"Noboru-sempai." She bowed, and then looked up at him with questioning blue eyes.

"Um... Because I'm the vice captain and all..." Sora shook his head and started over, "About your brother... I just wanted to know... You know, where he is... Because, um..."

"Because you're the vice captain," Atsuko provided kindly. She smiled slightly to herself, thinking that _someone_ a little too nervous to simply be asking where there kohai was. "Ayumu was feeling... A little under the weather today. He wanted to come to school, but our parents ordered that he stay home."

"Is he alright? I, uh, mean, because the ranking tournament..."

"Is coming up soon, and out bull-headed Namimaru-sempai has finally decided to give him a shot, yes, I know," Atsuko said, offering him the softest smile she could manage, while hiding her inner amusement. Sora, meanwhile, was trying (and succeeding, for the most part) to hide his astonishment at innocent-looking little Atsuko blatantly bad mouthing their _sempai_.

"... Yes," he said, after a bit of hesitation. He sighed. "I would visit him but..." he let out a humorless chuckle, "He doesn't really like me much, does he?"

Atsuko's face twisted in confusion. "I don't know about that. He's never _said_ that he disliked you, but then, it's Ayumu, so he probably wouldn't say anything even if he did dislike you... But really, I don't think that he hates you, not at all."

Sora looked into her eyes seriously, and then, deciding to forget their age deference entirely, asked, "What do you think I should do?"

"... Come and see him," She said, resolutely, "It might cheer him up. He's been down lately."

"Thank you," Sora said, a real smile lighting up his face this time. Atsuko mused that if her friends were still around, they would have swooned. "I'll do that."

Atsuko returned his smile, and then said, calmly, "You like my brother, don't you?"

Sora straightened up and looked around, confirming that no one was watching, he answered seriously, "And if I do?"

"Then you do," Atsuko shrugged.

"Then I do," he confirmed, and Atsuko gave him a new smile.

"Then you'd _better_ visit," She said, and then turned with a simple 'sayounara', and headed off to class.

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Shusuke was worried about Ayumu. Of course, he realized that he wasn't the only one, but he really wished that the young mind-reader would have simply told them what was going on. Then again, Kunimitsu had kept the identity of his kidnapper from him for five years, and he _was_ Ayumu's father after all.

"Tezuka men," Shusuke grumbled poor-naturedly to himself, "Stubborn. Every single one of them."

"Excuse me for listening to you talk to yourself, but aren't _you_ also a 'Tezuka man', Tezuka-san?" His secretary, Kisa, asked innocently.

"Yes, but not by blood, meaning that I, thankfully, hold no such trait." Shusuke said this with such resolve that Kisa was afraid to mention the many times that Shusuke himself had demonstrated _just_ how stubborn he could be.

"... Did you have some new photographs to turn in then?" Kisa asked, trying to avert the conversation to a safer topic.

"Yes," Shusuke answered, his signature smile coming back to his face. He held out a bend-less envelope, and Kisa took it, curiously looking inside.

As always, the pictures Shusuke had taken were breath taking and Kisa looked at each for several minutes before nodding. "They're wonderful, Tezuka-san. If... You don't mind my asking, who _are_ the children that are always in your photos?" Little winged children, whose faces were never shown in the photographs... Many other people had asked him the same thing. Normally, he would reply that such knowledge was a secret, but Kisa had worked with him for several years, and he knew that she could be trusted not to tell anyone.

"They are my children," Shusuke said proudly, and pointed to one of the young girl's photos, in which she was standing, hands clasped lightly behind her back, facing a lake which made up the background of the picture. The lake, of course, was the one at the Trivial Property, and Atsuko had not known at the time that her picture was being taken. "That is my little girl, Atsuko," he explained, "She's twelve years old now, and he," he motioned to one of the little boy's pictures, in which he was half turned away, his black wings stretched out and prepared to take off, you could see just a small bit of the creamy skin of his face, "Is her twin brother, Ayumu."

"They're beautiful, Shusuke-san," Kisa said, looking at the pictures once more, with renewed awe. "You and your husband must be very proud, and have been very lucky to find them."

Shusuke smiled, "Yes, we were." That was their guise. Neither Kunimitsu nor he himself had wanted to keep their marriage a secret, but their children... Were not so easy to explain. They passed them off as adopted twins, and their resemblance to Kunimitsu and himself as a coincidence. "We were very lucky." He sighed and looked out the windows, "Though sometimes I wonder if they feel the same way."

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Sora Noboru was nervous. Atsuko _had_ told him that he should visit, but at the same time, he felt that he might be making a mistake. After all, it wasn't like Ayumu had ever even acting _remotely_ like he liked him, even as a friend or a sempai, so coming to see him while he was out sick... Well, he could always say that he was coming because of the club. So, he took a deep breath and knocks on the door.

Within seconds, the door opened and a stern looking man was standing there. Sora _nearly_ lost his nerve and turned away on the spot, but then he noticed how much the man looked like Ayumu, and was able to draw some sort of comfort from that. He reminded himself that a little bit of discomfort was more than worth it if he could find out if Ayumu was alright.

"Good evening, Sir, I'm Sora Noboru," he said, bowing, "I'm on the Seigaku tennis team and I was just here to check up on Ayumu-san. We were all rather worried, because it's so unlike him to miss school." He let out a mental sigh of relief at having said that without any stuttering.

The man however, didn't seem as impressed, and simply gave him what he figured might have been a glare. He was about to try again when another man, whose smile reminded him somewhat of Atsuko, poked his head out of the door.

"Oh?" He asked, in a slightly musical sounding voice, "And who's this?"

"I'm Sora Noboru, Sir, I'm on Ayumu's team..."

"Ah, I'd wondered who Mitsu was out here glaring at," he said, giving the other man a somewhat teasing grin. "I suppose you'll want to talk to Ayumu. Come in, I'll see if he's awake."

Sora was relieved at the invitation, and bowed before excepting it and walking into the house. It was a traditional style house, and he took off his shoes at the entrance without being asked, knowing that it would be disrespectful to do otherwise. The stoic figure who had first answered the door gave a small nod of approval, and Sora was led into a sitting room.

"Hold on just a moment while I see if Ayumu is awake," the smiling man said softly. His voice was somehow comforting, and it reminded him a bit of Ayumu's, on the rare occasions that he heard the young boy speak.

"You're Sora Noboru?" The expressionless man said now that the other was gone, he motioned for Sora to sit. The eighth grader did as he was told and nodded in response to the question. "Ayumu has mentioned you before."

Sora was surprised, and looked up at the man with slightly widened eyes. "R-really? I... Um... I hope it wasn't bad... I do not think that he thinks very well of me..."

An eyebrow rose in silent question. "I was under no such impression. He mentioned that you were a very talented tennis player."

Sora really didn't like the way the man looked at him, like he knew something it shouldn't be possible for him to know. Still, he blushed slightly at hearing that Ayumu had praised him. "Ayumu-san is very talented himself. He's actually going to be in the ranking tournament coming up soon. That was part of the reason I was so worried. I would hate for him to miss that chance."

Tezuka nodded, the slightest of smiles on his face. "As would I."

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Shusuke entered the room silently, but quickly realized that there had been no need, as Ayumu was awake, and sat up in bed at his entrance. The tensai smiled at his son.

"Someone from your tennis team is here to check on you. Do you wish to see him?"

"Who is it?" Ayumu asked, curious as to who would bother.

"Sora Noboru, I believe he said his name was."

"NO!" Ayumu yelled out immediately, and then erupted into a fit of coughing, his throat and voice not used to such an outburst. When he settled down, he reached out with his mind instead. _"No, I don't... Feel up to it."_

"Ayumu," Shusuke said, his voice sounding nearly angry. "What's wrong? Has this boy hurt you?"

Ayumu's eyes widened only the slightest, but those who knew him could tell that he was horrified by the thought. "N-no, I..."

The gaze on him softened. "Yes, Ayu?"

"I... I really... Like him," Ayumu choked out. Shusuke's soft, calming smile returned, and he patted his son's knee before moving back towards the door.

"Alright, Ayumu," he conceded, "I'll tell him that you are asleep, but, after, we're going to talk about this, alright?"

Ayumu nodded, and watched as his father left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello anybody reading this! Well, I'm pretty sure it's long this time, but still not quite as long as an average Trivial Pulse chapter... I'm working on it though! I promise!

Immortal Tigress- Not to worry! They DO interact in this chapter!

Sakimi1014- Okay! Update time!

MintIceCream- Meeting Tezuka, and knowing that you're in 'like' with his son... I really don't blame Sora for being nervous, do you? Oh, and Atsuko is straight. No worries.

Mizuki-sempai- Yay!

Wizli- There are not many characters now, but I hope to add more Trivial Pulse Positive's kids in soon. Some will show up in the next chapter, if all goes well. Sora, by the way, is not a positive. I kinda wish that I had left a positive without a 'partner' in Trivial Pulse. An age-gap relationship might have been fun to write.

Anonymous- A straight son? Maybe.

He-Yan- I doubt that Shusuke has ever allowed Ayumu or Atsuko to see that side of him. Still... Poor Sora will probably get it at some point.

Tacuma- Atsuko ended up to be a lot like Fuji, I think. Ayumu though... Well, he's kinda Tezuka-like, but to me he seems to project that he is his own person as well. Maybe I'm wrong.

KiriharaAkaya- Well, of course it's awkward! -Laughs.- We're all used to our pretty-but-sadistic-tensai Fuji, but this is Shusuke Tezuka, devoted father. Scary thought. I have no idea how long it will be, by the way. Probably not as long as TP though.

ShadowinRW- I GOT A COOKIE!!!!!!!

RaiPhoenix015- Ano... If you're taking a lot of aspirin, I suggest you switch to Tylenol, because it's easier on your stomach. Just a little tidbit. I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter also.

Tammy- Tezuka is Tezuka-lie? Oh good, my life is complete.

Lucky.Syuusuke.Yukimura- Sora is NOT a positive, but never fear, Shia has a plan!!

Shemeno- Thank you very much. -Bows.-

Cassie- Sorry, but I saw the 'lighter than Trivial Pulse', and laughed. I doubt it'll be happy and fluffy all the time, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

DarknessWithinTheBush- Well, you'll just have to wait and see!

KX- Yay! A sequel! We should al sing and dance! -Begins dancing-

Sayoko's-fire- I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter! The reason Ayumu can't read Sora's mind will be revealed... Later in the story, not sure how much later though. His last name, by the way, is Noboru, Sora Noboru.

Purplerainn- Ah, I get it then! I'm relieved, I thought that I was portraying him poorly.

AnimeFan06- Ah yes, one of my many errors...

Shimizu Miki- About Kisa: she's just a side-character, and I don't even know if she will appear again, she does not know that the wings are fake, she thinks that they are a prop of sorts (a very, very _good_ prop). I often have Ayumu's problem of not talking and then having to be very loud, so I understand. Normally, I can be very calm, but then, at random times, I get very hyper (Sugar and I... -Laughs.-) and end up yelling and singing and then I end up coughing... -Sigh.- Such a sad life I live.

Sweet Obsidian Rain- Sorry, sorry, they'll meet in this chapter, I promise.

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis, or it's characters, But I do own a few of the characters in this story (and if you're a true P.O.T. Fan, you'll know which ones they are without having to think about it).

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Sora was made to leave, and afterwards, both Kunimitsu and Shusuke entered their son's room. Each settling on opposite sides of the bed, they caught Ayumu's gaze only long enough to communicate that they were waiting only on him. To try and convey that there was no pressure.

_"I... I think that I'm in love with Noboru-senpai," _He told them softly, their minds seeming relaxing to him, familiar, as he transmitted his thoughts to them. _"I talked to Oshitari-sensei, and he just told me that I had to watch, that no one but me could tell if I were in love or not, and I..." _Ayumu's mental voice trailed off, as he lost the little communicating-confidence he had.

"You think that you really do care for him that way," Shusuke nodded, hand brushing a piece of Ayumu's hair out of his face. "It's fine, Ayu-chan. Nothing to worry about."

Kunimitsu gave him a look, as if to mention without words how they had both worried about how the other would react early in their own relationship. Shusuke sent him a scowl. Kunimitsu sighed and turned back to the young bird-child. "What do you intend to do?"

"I... Don't know," Ayumu admitted, much as he had to Yuushi before.

Shusuke gave him a kind smile that few outside of their family and close friends ever saw. "Whatever you do, Ayumu, don't let yourself be hurt. And, if you are hurt, know that you can come to us."

Ayumu nodded, his lips twitching into a near-smile, which was practically beaming, for him. "I know, Mama."

"Get some sleep," Kunimitsu said, and leaded in to kiss the boy's forehead. Shusuke repeated the gesture, and then Ayumu was left alone in a dark room with his thoughts.

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Nothing happened for the better part of a week. Well, not quite a week, but it was Friday when things started to change. It was their Birthday, Ayumu and Atsuko's, as well as that of their Taka-oji-san. Which meant, of course, that everyone (or all of the Positives, anyway) would be showing up at the Trivial Property for a full-blown party. This happened every year, and it was rare that anyone missed it (though Yukimura and Sanada sometimes 'disappeared' for some amount of time, normally showing up after several months, with a new baby in tow).

Ayumu, however, didn't _feel_ like it was his birthday. He felt horrible, in fact. Noboru-sempai had been avoiding him all week, and he had finally decided to make a go at confessing his feelings.

_"Go for it!" _Atsuko encouraged through thought. It was near the end of the day now, and class seemed to be droning on and on. _"You can tell him after school."_

_"... How?"_

No response came from a moment. _"I could find him after school and tell him to meet you somewhere? You don't have practice today, right?"_

_"No." _Ayumu thought about it. It could work, after all. Senpai wasn't avoiding Atsuko. _"... We have to go to the Property though."_

_"I'll tell everyone that you'll be a little late," _She sounded excited, _"You could even bring him with you!"_

_"... Please, Atsuko... It's not like..." _Ayumu's thought to Atsuko trailed off here, as his personal thought ended, _'... It's not like he'll say "yes".'_

_"And if things don't go well, you need only call out to us, and we'll come get you," she said kindly. "Now, where shall I ell him to meet you?"_

_"... The roof."_

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Atsuko was not happy. Normally, yes, she could just grin and bear it when a teacher rambled on an and on about how she wasn't "performing to her full potential" (of course she wasn't, she'd by in _college_ by now if she did!), but not _today_! Ayumu was going to tell him today! It was her birthday! Even now, her brother was heading up to the roof and _she_ was supposed to be getting Sora to get up there! She had a party to get to! Not that it looked like she was going _anywhere_ any time soon. This teacher was very long winded after all. She sighed and tried to think of some way to get out of there faster.

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Ayumu came up onto the roof and took a deep breath at the fresh air. His back was nearly twitching, as if his wings couldn't understand why he wasn't headed for the Trivial Property by now, so that they could be released for a flight before the guests arrived. Or perhaps it was nerves that made them react this way. It was hard to tell.

"Ayumu Tezuka." He turned at the sound of his name, surprised to see a small group of upperclassmen from the club watching him with cold eyes.

"The freshman who thinks he can make regular," A different voice sneered. Ayumu didn't like where this was going. He had seen those expressions many times before, and every time it meant the same thing: They were jealous, and felt that they were going to have to hurt him to make themselves feel better.

"Stupid brat, should knock him down a few pegs, we should," another nodded.

"But he has Noboru-Fukubuchou behind him," another said. Ah, perhaps a voice of reason.

"Probably trying to seduce him," the voice that had said his name put in. "You're a bloody fag, aren't you?"

Ayumu said nothing. The 'voice of reason' chuckled. "Not denying it. Must be true."

"Fag fathers, no chance not to be, really. Why deny?"

"Of course he's not denying it. 'E's too stupid to talk."

"Yeah, we definitely have to rough him up a bit."

"Our contribute to society." They all laughed, and Ayumu braced himself for the first blow. It landed, and he was knocked off his feet.

He couldn't physically fight back, he knew, there was too many of them, and they were all much larger than him, and to use his power... No, he would not use his telekinesis for this. It could only make this worse. So, he did the only thing he could do: curled up in a ball, keeping his arms close to him, for fear of injury to them in particular, and hoped desperately that Sora, anybody, would come soon.

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"Noboru-senpai!" Atsuko yelled out, glad that she had managed to catch him before he left. He turned back to her, brown eyes looking at her interestedly. She caught up to him and caught her breath before continuing. "Why have you... Been avoiding Ayumu?"

Sora blushed a deep red. "Well... Uh... Just a little... Embarrassed, I guess, I mean I came to visit and he didn't even want to _see_ me..." Sora had heard the 'no'. Ayumu had practically yelled it, after all.

Atsuko rolled her eyes, mumbling something that sounded like 'boys'. "Well, he wants to see you now. Has something to say, I think." She winked, "Something you'll want to hear."

"Where is he?" Sora asked, eyes widening with interest.

"Roof," Atsuko said, giving him a mischievous smile. "Be kind to him, won't you? Oh, and bring him _here_ afterwards." She handed him a piece of paper with the Property's address on it.

Sora was grinning like a fool. "You bet I will."

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"Move!" several boys pushed Sora to the side on his way up to the roof, and he grabbed the stair-rail for support.

_'Jerks,' _he thought, though he had not seen their faces, and was in too much of a hurry to tell them so. _'Right, Ayumu... I wonder what he has to tell me...'_

He opened the door to the roof and looked around. He couldn't see Ayumu anywhere. "Tezuka-san? ... Tezuka-san? Te--"

He was answered with a groan, and his eyes used the sound to find a crumpled figure, curled up into a small ball and bleeding slightly. Funny, but it almost looked as if the person were...

"Ayumu!" Sora rushed to his love's side, forgetting entirely that he was supposed to call him by his last name when he spoke aloud. "God, Ayumu... What happened to you..." He shook his head. "Stupid question... Who...?"

"I... Don't know," Ayumu lied. He couldn't possibly bother his sempai... His potential _mate,_ with something like this. He struggled to sit up, but he couldn't support himself. Preparing to his the cold roof, he was surprised when two warm arms caught him instead. _'Oh no...' _Ayumu thought, but it was too late, as his wings appeared at that moment. He choked back a sob. Sora would _really_ hate him now, more than he already did. He would have to change schools now... His entire family might have to move when this got out. He'd ruined everything.

Sora was speechless as he ran his fingers over black feathers. Wings. Ayumu had wings.

When he got over the initial shock, he began to think that they suited him. A black-winged angel. "Hey, Tezuka-san... Are you alright? Should I take you to the hospital?" _'Although explaining those wings would be awkward... Especially since I don't know anything!'_

"No," Ayumu shook his head. "Please... Just take me to... The Property."

"'Property'?" Sora repeated, frowning. "Oh! The place Atsuko told me to take you after you..." He trailed off. Ayumu had been planning to tell him something. "Er... What were you planning to tell me, Tezuka-san?"

Ayumu opened his mouth, and then closed it again, looking away. "Later... Please? I'll tell you later."

"Alright, then," Sora agreed, standing up and swooping him up. Ayumu made a small noise of surprise, and started to protest, but Sora shushed him. "You know... These wings... They'll attract attention." (A/N: Right, and a young man carrying another young man in his arms in JAPAN isn't going to attract attention?)

"... I can't... Make them go away," Ayumu mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

"How do you ever hide them in the first place?" Sora asked, " I mean, they're... Well, beautiful, really, seems someone would notice." He knew that he was teasing, and Ayumu probably didn't appreciate it, but he couldn't help himself. Ayumu was blushing! _Blushing! _It was just too cute not to try and encourage it.

"Normally... They just..." Ayumu couldn't figure out how to explain it. Sora began towards the stairs as he thought. Ayumu was becoming infinitely glad that he was light. "They just... Go away. I dunno..."

"Why can't they 'go away' right now?" Sora asked, hoping that it had nothing to do with his injuries. He didn't want to think they were _that_ bad; he was already worried enough.

"Normally I can control them, but at certain times...If I'm emotional, or injured or haven't flown in a while," he felt he might pass out from using so much air at once. This was embarrassing. "They come out. So... It's probably _you_ that's making them stay out now."

"Me?" Sora was slightly alarmed at this. He was making Ayumu feel emotional, pain and/or flight-loss? Wait, that wasn't possible, was it?! While going insane on the inside, Sora tried to keep some semblance of calm in his exterior features.

"Yes," Ayumu sighed, "But that... Has to do with what I had to tell you."

"Oh." The both fell into silence for a while. "You know," Sora said, "I think that this is the most I've ever heard you talk. Not just in one conversations either, but, you know, _ever_."

"I feel light-headed."

Sora laughed until he saw how unfocused Ayumu's eyes were. Luckily, they were passing a park, and he was able to stop and lay Ayumu down on a bench. The bird-kid immediately wrapped his wings around himself, as if he was cold. Sora sat on the very edge of the bench by his side and rested a hand on the younger boy's forehead.

"You feel a little warm," he said. "Should we call your parents?"

Ayumu thought about it. It might be a good idea, just so that Sora wouldn't have to carry him all that way, but he didn't want them to worry either... Oh, wait, they would worry once he got there anyway. _'Some birthday this is.'_ He nodded.

"Could you tell me the number please?" Sora asked, pulling out his cell phone. Ayumu told him the number and Sora made the call.

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(Reminder: Daddy- Shusuke, Papa- Kunimitsu)

_'Daddy is probably livid,' _Ayumu thought, covering his eyes with his arm as Sora ended his call. As soon as his arm was placed, however, he pulled it away to get a good look at his senpai. He should just tell him and get it over with, he guessed, at this way if he ran off disgusted, his parents would at least be on their way to get him. Surely his Daddy and Papa would comfort him and make his birthday wonderful again. If anything could be wonderful after this.

"Noboru-senpai..." Ayumu murmured, meeting Sora's eyes as he turned to look t him. "I... Um... Today I... just wanted to tell you..."

"Ayumu," Sora interrupted, placing a finger on the young boy's lips. Ayumu had an insane impulse to lick that finger, but managed to control it. "Before you say anything, I have something to tell you as well." Ayumu waited obediently, _really_ wanting to lick that stupid finger on his lips. He knew that he had to control his instincts though, and tried to listen to what Sora was saying. "I, um... I really like you, Ayumu."

_'His lips... Hmm, wonder what he tastes like... Wait what?' _Ayumu thought, and his eyes widened with curiosity as he looked up at his sempai. "What... Did you say?"

"I really like you, Ayumu," Sora repeated, blushing faintly at how adorable Ayumu looked like that, faintly flushed with a slight fever, eyes open and curious, begging-to-be-kissed lips slightly parted with his finger placed on them. Oh, he should probably stop doing that. As he began to pull his finger away, though, a pink tongue darted out and licked it. He froze.

Ayumu blushed, full out, at what he had done. _'Just couldn't help myself...'_

"You're blushing," Sora smiled. "It's cute." He leaned down then, and met Ayumu's lips in a kiss, half-surprised when the younger boy kissed back. He thought about making it deeper, but decided that he'd take it slow. Ayumu was important to him, after all, he didn't want to frighten him off. "So, you wanna try going out?"

"S-sure," Ayumu said, attempting a smile. It was small, but it seemed to have quite the affect, as after a moment of shock, Sora kissed him again.

"Ayumu!" Shusuke's voice caused them to separate, as the blue-eyed man rushed over to them, taking his son into his arms as Kunimitsu followed slowly behind. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Ayumu assured them, as his papa moved to help him up.  
"Noboru-senpai has been... very kind to me." Both parents gave Sora a suspicious look, but the junior was already at Ayumu's side, helping him to stay off his left leg, which seemed to have the worst of his injuries, and was slowly helping him towards Kunimitsu's car. Ayumu's wings wrapped themselves around the two of them, and, watching, Kunimitsu couldn't help but smile.

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**Note- Hello! Just a couple little tidbits!**

**1. About Ayumu... He's more talkative in this chapter, ne? I've also noticed, though, that he never says more than three words out loud without a pause or '...' in there. I hadn't noticed I was doing that before, but... Weird. Also, his thoughts about licking Sora's finger and wondering if he tastes good, the answer to your question is 'no, Ayumu is not a pervert, or becoming perverted, it has to do with Sora being the 'only one for him'. It's instinct, he can't help thinking that way.' Okay, that's it.**

**2. Did anyone think about that bench they stopped at? That same park was mentioned in Trivial Pulse. If anyone can guess what scene it is that takes place there, they can come up with the name for Eiji and Oishi's oldest son! Yay! What a prize, what prize! Not really, but whatever. **

**3. Character names- It hit me that some of you might be curious about the origin's of the character's names, so I thought I'd mention it.**

**Ayumu- In Ayumu's name, 'Ayu' means 'walk' and 'mu' means 'dream' or 'vision'. I sometimes call him my Little Dream Walker. -Laughs.- **

**Atsuko- Her name is 'Atsu' which is 'warm' (There is a different 'Atsu' kanji, which means 'kind', but I chose warm) and 'ko' which is 'child'. I chose it because on how Atsuko was as a baby, loving and, well, warm.**

**Sora Noboru- Sora's name was tricky. His first name, of course, 'Sora', means 'Sky'. His last name, 'Noboru' means to 'rise' or 'ascend'. No real reason for this one, just seemed to fit him.**

**Narumi- (Gakuto and Yuushi's little girl) Narumi's name is 'Naru' which, if I remember correctly, means 'seed' and 'mi', which means 'beautiful'. I chose this for her name, because it jus sounds like something Yuushi would name his kid, ne? 'Seed; Beauty'... It makes me think of 'Beauty that has merely yet to grow', and that simply sounds Yuushi-like. You may also notice that there is a character in Spiral, whose last name this is, consequently named Ayumu Narumi. I remembered that and I'm like 'No wonder 'Little Narumi' rolled off my tongue so easily!' It was not on purpose.**

**Until next time! Ja ne! **


	4. Chapter 4

Hello anybody reading this! First of all, for the contest! There were some WONDERFUL guesses, but only three people got it right. The answer was "The park where Ikasu, Bunta and Akaya sorted out their feelings". Now, I know some of you are thinking that I mislead you by making you think it would be the park in the "Ayame arc", but it _was_ the park on the wat to the Trivial Property, the only of which was the previously stated answer. Thank you to everyone who tried, and congratulations to those who got it right!

Immortal Tigress- Well, there are SOME people...

Bloody.Trickster- Your wish is my command. This time.

Sakimi1014- Update! Update!

FujiLovesMe- Thank you for the compliment.

MintIceCream- Thank you again for the name, I chose to use Jasony, which I have really come to love.

PinkFloweree- Thank you once again for the name.

Alone in the Snow- Thank you for your review!

Tacuma- I am glad that you enjoyed it. Please enjoy this one as well.

KiriharaAkaya- Yeah, it was a little rushed, as was this one. I'm sorry.

ShadowinRW- HEY! 'Happy' and 'Chappie' rhyme! Oh-my-Jell-o! You're so amazing! Thank you for the cinnamon roll by the way. I would tell you that it was yummy, but my keyboard ate it before I could get it, Something about revenge for not supplying proper dental care services.

RaiPhoenix015- Believe me, I know the wonders of a hot drink. When I am stressed or not feeling well, nothing helps me more than a cup of black tea, or chamomile with milk, if I'm REALLY stressed. Yukimura and Sanada currently have three children, by the way. Though they may have more before I'm done with them... (Poor Sanada... ')

Shemeno- Thank you very much.

Sayoko's-fire- I don't know if anybody really knows that it's Ayumu's birthday (at school, I mean). Still, Atsukjo's popular, so anyone with half a brain might realize that her birthday is also his birthday. -Shrugs.- Hard to tell though.

Sweet Obsidian Rain- Thank you once again for the name. -Bows.- As fort he names, yes, technically, it should be surname first style, but as I didn't do so in Trivial Pulse (the first chapter, in fact, has 'Kunimitsu Tezuka') I decided to use the same style here. It often annoys me to write it that way, but I would feel even stranger to change my ways now.

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis, or it's characters, But I do own a few of the characters in this story (and if you're a true P.O.T. Fan, you'll know which ones they are without having to think about it).

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"How have you been sleeping, Ayumu?" Dr. Hatchett asked.

"Fine," Ayumu said, trying to keep from wiggling away from the antiseptic the elderly doctor was gently dabbing on his wounds.

"You haven't passed out since I last saw you?" Wizened eyes fixed on him in a way that just dared him to lie. Not that Ayumu had any such intentions.

"No," he answered, shaking his head.

"Well, that's good," Dr. Hatchett nodded. "Now, as for today's inflictions, the worst of it is this bruise here," he ran a finger feather-lightly over a large dark abrasion on his left leg, "which seems to be rather deep. Thankfully, however, the bone is unharmed. My advice would be to take it easy for a while. You can continue to practice, but try not to get yourself assigned any laps, don't play any actual matches, and if the team runs, make sure that you go slow, and that the captain is aware of your injury. Other than that, I'll bring a salve by your house tomorrow that will help you heal faster." The man's wrinkles lightened as he smiled. "Now, go enjoy the rest of your birthday."

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"Hey! Mr. Man!" Sora turned, confused, as he felt a small hand tug on the end of him shirt. "Don' look at me 'ike that." Dark blue eyes narrowed at his accusingly. "It's you fault 'Yumu's hurt, isn't it?"

"Wahh?" Sora's eyes widened at the young boy standing in front of him. Dark, messy hair nearly hid what seemed to be puppy ears, which were lowered flat against the boy's head, and Sora could see that he was ready to pounce. "No! I promise you, I didn't!"

"Don' be silly, Arata," a kinder young voice admonished, and Sora turned slightly to see a small, redhead girl, dark eyes regarding him somewhat blankly. "Do ya really think he would be _here_ if he hurt 'Yumu?"

Arata blushed at this, but quickly regained his earlier demeanor. "_Maybe_, Chou, you never know."

Chou sighed and shook her head, and then sticks her hand out to Sora. He can't help but notice that her nails are like tiny claws, fitting for the cheetah ears on her head. "I'm Chou Ibu. _He's_ Arata Oishi. You are?" Sora took the tiny hand (which seemed much too small to properly fit with his) and shook it gently.

"Sora Noboru," he answered. "Er... Pardon me, but... How old are you?"

The two Positives shared a glance. "Three."

Sora's jaw nearly dropped. "B-but you're so mature!"

Chou let out a small laugh. "We're half animal, Noboru-san, we... Grow faster than most children."

"So I see," Noboru said.

"Hello, Senpai." That soft, breeze of a voice nearly made Sora shiver as he turned to see Ayumu, oceanic blue eyes looking directly at hi, and only at him.

"Hello, Ayumu," Sora smiled at him, making a faint blush run over his boyfriend's cheeks.

"Come with me?" Ayumu asked softly. It was all Sora could do to nod dumbly, heart racing as Ayumu took his hand and began to pull him away.

"Hey, he called 'Yumu by his first name," Arata frowned. "Wha's _that_ supposed ta mean?"

Chou just shook her head with a slight smile, before taking his hand in hers and leading him toward the food table.

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Ayumu didn't know why he was taking Sora with him. There was no reason, really, and he hadn't planned on telling Sora about this, especially not so early in their relationship, but he couldn't just _not_ do this when he had such an opportunity.

For a moment, he hesitated. He could just take Sora back up to the house, day it had been nothing, and then come back down here a bit later, by himself. He didn't want Sora to pity him, and he certainly didn't see any real _reason_ to show him this, but... It also couldn't really hurt, could it?

"Ayumu..." The blue-eyed boy turned at the sound of his name, tumbling without thought over those beautiful lips. "You're nervous. Why?"

Ayumu was surprised that he would pick up on this. "I-I..." He looked away. "The place we're going..."

"You don't want me to go there now? You're having second thoughts about taking me there," He smiled kindly at the younger boy and lifted his chin gently so that their eyes met once more. "It's fine if you don't want me to go. I'll just go back up to the house, and wait for you to take care of whatever you need to. Please, do not feel that you have to take me anywhere with you, if you don't want to."

Ayumu's face flushed and he took Sora's hand once more, continuing on their way. They walked the short distance to a large sakura tree, and Ayumu came to a stop. The wind nearly blew away his voice as he whispered, "Hello, Daisuki."

He stood silently for a moment, simply gazing upon his brother's grave and waiting for the inevitable question: Whose grave is this?

Sora, however, didn't ask. He simply stood, a step behind Ayumu, and continued to hold the other boy's hand in silence. Ayumu was both thankful and impressed, and decided that even an unasked question deserved an answer. "He was my bother," Ayumu told him, raising his voice just slightly. "He died... When we were born."

Sora said nothing still, but squeezed his hand in a sign of comfort. To Ayumu, it seemed that it said. 'I do not pity you, but I am sorry for your pain'. He really felt like Sora understood, and let himself fall back into waiting arms.

It felt strange to let go, even for just a moment, to let go of his fears and relax, especially with someone else right there. It felt even stranger to feel that he was enjoying the human contact that Sora was giving him. There was no doubt in his mind now that Sora was the one, his mate. Not that he could ever tell him that. No, that wouldn't go over well at all. 'Hi, I know we just started dating, but I can only fall in love once, so why don't we just stay together forever? Not pressure or anything.' Ayumu doubted he could even say that much all at once, if he could even say it at all. Ever.

Besides, he shouldn't get over-excited. Sora hadn't ever said that he loved him, and this could end up being nothing more than a week-long fling. Still, at least he knew that it was more for _him_, and he could deal with everything else as it came. For now, he just wanted to stay in Sora's arms, and forget the rest of the world.

So he did.

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"What did you want to talk to me about, Munehiro?" Taka asked, taking in the slightly chilled night, running a hand through his hair as he did so.

"Baby," Kabaji said, taking both of Taka's hands in his own, and gently turning him away from the expansive grounds to look into his eyes instead. Taka suddenly saw that this was something serious.

"Yes?" Taka asked, soft brown eyes looking up at his husband expectantly.

"Taka, I think that it's time," Kabaji said. Taka didn't understand.

"I'm sorry... What?"

Kabaji took a deep breath. "How would you feel... About adopting a child? For our own."

Taka tackled Kabaji in a bone-crushing hug.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later, Keigo Atobe decided to make an announcement, an extremely pregnant Jirou beside him.

"As all of you know, today is a special day, as it is two birthdays, and a Friday--"

"Us adults have decided that any kid over seven who wants to can stay here over night!" Jirou cut in.

"Ore-sama was getting to that," Atobe said, the glare he aimed at Jirou not nearly affective, due to the humor also in his eyes. The kids broke into chatter about it, both excitedly (the older children) and peeved (the younger children).

Ayumu turned to Sora, squeezing his hand slightly in silent question, asking 'can you stay?'

Sora recognized the gesture and answered, "I'll call home. Hold on." And then Sora's hand was out of his, and the older boy was headed out to the front porch.

The absence of Sora's hand seemed almost painful to Ayumu for some reason, and even if he couldn't read Sora's mind, he felt that the other might be hiding something from him. Against his nature, he followed out to the porch, stopping behind one of the stone pillars, and listening as Sora began to talk to whoever was on the other line.

"Hey." Ayumu frowned. Something in Sora's voice was off; he had never heard the other boy talk like that before. "Yeah. I know. I'm sorry."

Ayumu could hear a woman's voice, but he couldn't understand what she was saying.

"Yes, I know, I know," Sora said, sounding a bit exasperated. "That's why I'm calling, I wanted to stay at a friend's tonight. It's his birthday." The woman again. "I'm sorry, Mother, but--"

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

"You are _NOT _my son you brat of a child! I don't care what you do! I want MY Sora back!!" The woman's voice so loud now that he could not only understand her, but it was hurting his ears. He couldn't understand, though. I _heard_ her, but what she said made no sense. Sora had called her 'mother', but she had said... That he wasn't her son? No, that simply didn't make sense to him.

"Ayumu...!" Ayumu turned to see a startled looking Sora looking at him. Sora's startled face relaxed and he blushed slightly. "You... Probably heard that, huh?"

Ayumu couldn't help but nod. How stupid he had been! Some tensai he was, didn't even notice that Sora had finished his conversation...

"I'm sorry about that, you shouldn't have had to hear her go on like that," Sora gave him a sympathetic smile.

"N-no, I..." Ayumu stammered. "Why was she...?"

"... A little over a year ago, I was in an accident," Sora said after a short pause. "I really wasn't injured that badly, but I did hit my head rather hard, and I lost my memory because of it. I don't remember anything before the accident, and I guess it affected my personality somehow, because... Even thought she's my mother, she doesn't seem to recognize me as her son. I think... Perhaps the accident was too much for her. Anyway, I ended up changing schools, and here I am now."

Ayumu was stunned for a moment and then, moving on instinct, he moved forward and threw his arms around his boyfriend, wrapping his wings around them as well in an act of comfort. He felt like crying, but no tears fell from his eyes.

Sora seemed to freeze for a moment, then his arms wrapped around Ayumu in return, and he buried his face in the young boy's hair. Ayumu could feel his loving smile.

"Thank you, Ayumu. Thank you."

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**Konbanwa Minna-san! Well, it's evening here anyway, as I write this, but whatever. So, more of the kids will be in the next chapter, but I thought I'd help all of you prepare for that by posting a list of who has kids and what their names are. I hope that you find it helpful. Thanks again to those who won the contest and supplied such wonderful names. Thank you as well to everyone who attempted. **

**" "'s are the meanings fort he Kanji in their names, or just teh general name meaning, if not in Japanese.**

**Fuji-Tezuka-**

**Ayumu- 12- M- "Dream" and "Walk"**

**Atsuko- 12- F- "Warm" and "Child"**

**Gakuto-Yuushi-**

**Narumi- 2- F- "Seed" and "Beautiful"**

**Jirou-Atobe-**

**Ren- 11- M- "Lotus"**

**Ryuu- 11- M- "Dragon"**

**Suzu- 4- F- "Bell"**

**(On the way)**

**Sanada-Yukimura-**

**Miki- 10- F- "Beautiful" and "Chronicle"**

**Kohaku- 5- M- "Amber"**

**Sachiko- 3- F- "Happiness" and "Child"**

**Eiji-Oishi (It's only fitting that they have a huge family, right?)-**

**Jasony- 11- M- (Name courtesy of: MintIceCream, if it has a meaning, I do not know it) **

**Kaito- 9- M- "Sea" and "Soar"**

**Cindy- 7- F- (Name courtesy of: PinkFloweree)- "Cindy, I do not know, but 'Cythia' is "The Latinized form of Greek Κυνθια (Kynthia) which means "woman from Kynthos". This was an epithet of the Greek moon goddess Artemis, given because Kynthos was the mountain on Delos on which she and her twin brother Apollo were born." **

**Chiyo- 6- F- "Thousand" and "World"**

**Arata - 3- M- "Fresh, New"**

**Isamu - six months- M- "Courage, Bravery"**

**Kaoru-Inui-**

**(None so far)**

**Ryoma-Momo-**

**(None so far)**

**Shishido-Choutarou-**

**Yasuo- 8- M- (Name courtesy of: Sweet Obsidian Rain)- "Peaceful One"**

**Hibiki- 4- M- "Echo"**

**Akira-Shinji-**

**Chou- 6- F- "Butterfly"**

**Kanon- 3- F- "Flower" and "Sound"**

**Akutsu-Dan-**

**(None so far)**

**Niou-Yagyuu-**

**Kazuki- 7- M- "One" and "Hope"**

**Hotaru- 5- F- "Firefly"**

**Ikasu-Akaya-Bunta-**

**Bade- 9- M (Ikasu)- I do not know the country of origin from the name, but it means "Full Moon". If anyone knows, please tell me, I'm very curious.**

**Ryan- 9- M (Akaya)- Gaelic in origin, it means "Little King"**

**Chiyuki- 18 months- F (Akaya)- "Thousand" and "Snow"**

**Just a note! I wanted to remind everyone that all of these kids are extremely intelligent for their ages due to their animal DNA causing them to mature(? Can I really say that after Arata's little act up there?) faster than a normal child. So, to get their "Age", take their actual age and add about four to five years, mm'kay? Thanks.**

**See you next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

-1Hello anybody reading this! I'm so sorry that it's been sp long, I just went through exams. X(

Immortal Tigress- Actually, I don't know why. Why Kazuki?

Yukihiko- Nyaa... Sorry.

Cassie- I don't think that I did mention it, but, yes, you will see traces of it here and there. Go LOVELESS! Woot!

Sakimi1014- And here it is!

Shimizu Miki- No worries. Thanks for reading!

MintIceCream- Thank you for that! And, your theory about Sora's mind is DEAD-ON. I don't know how far into the story will go, so I thought I'd just tell you. Congratulations.

Silverrowanraven- Honestly, I don't think that he told Sora, but Jirou _is_ quite girl-like, so perhaps he didn't notice, or was too busy staring at Ayumu to see anything else. -Shrugs.- A lot was going on.

BlackOrchid143- Yep, they're adorgable (Don't ask).

Tacuma- Well, they're in here.

ANONYMOUS- You'll see. Actually, read this chapter, and you'll have pretty good answer, I think.

Just A Gal- Sorry, but probably not two, I'm very busy right now.

ShadowinRW- Thank you for the doughnuts! As for my Keyboard, I'll let him introduce himself.

Keyboard- "I am known as Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III, don't hesitate to call!"

I'm sorry... That was a Lame Trigun Joke. I doubt you even got it, huh? Still, that is his name. We call him Vash the Stampede for short.

Keyboard- "What?! I hate it when you call me by my full name!"

RaiPhoenix015- Thank you for your review, and I'm sorry to say I don't have a lot of review time, or else I would comment more on what you said, but, yep, there are a LOT of kids.

Purplerainn- Yep! All here! All here!

Shemeno- -Bows.- Thank you.

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis, or it's characters, But I do own a few of the characters in this story (and if you're a true P.O.T. Fan, you'll know which ones they are without having to think about it).

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"The adults are... GONE!" Jasony said this with such joyous conniption that the response was that of several whoots, and a few howls from his own family. Of course, they weren't _entirely_ alone, as the house's servants (all aware of the TP and used to strange happenings by now) were still around, but what did that matter, when they were on the other side of this large house and probably would never come check on them?

Yep, party time.

"What should we do first?" Yasuo asked, a mischievous smile on his lips, his white hair characteristically unruly, and his boyfriend Kaito gave him a reproachful look. Yasuo blushed and tried to look innocent.

How about a... Game?" Kazuki asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at Cindy. She scowled at him, but a few of the older kids chuckled knowingly.

"A game... Not actually such a bad suggestion," Shizuka said, nodding thoughtfully as she thought over her brother's suggestion. Kazuki's jaw dropped at the thought that he was actually being taken seriously (a rare event indeed), but quickly pressed his lips together when Cindy off-handedly mentioned that his mouth was falling off his face. Shizuka continued like nothing was going on. "Yes, a game... Like, oh, I don't know, spin the bottle, perhaps?"

Atsuko chuckled as at least five agreements came forth immediately. "I'm for it, I suppose." She turned her eyes to Ayumu, asking the obvious question without word or thought. Ayumu said nothing, but tugged silently on Sora's sleeve, looking instead to him for answer.

"If you're game, Ayumu, I'm... Cool with it, I guess," he said, looking almost hesitant. Ayumu understood. Their relationship was still new, and something like this could put it in an uncomfortable strain on it.

Ayumu gave him a small smile and took his hand, squeezed it softly. "It's just a game," he whispered, "Stuff like this... Nobody really takes it seriously."

"Then I guess I'm in," Sora said a bit louder, and Ayumu gave a small nod to the awaiting people. They all turned to Miki, the final person yet to reply.

Shizuka looked at her mate with careful eyes, as if silently saying 'You wouldn't refuse to play my suggested game, would you?' and Miki sighed, looking rather defeated. Ayumu knew that she really wasn't a fan of this type of game at all, but then, the well mannered, but still slyly devious Shizuka was not one to be easily turned down. Ayumu was fairly sure that Shizuka could get Miki to agree to anything with little more than a look.

They settled into a circle, when Ryan stood up. "We need to make a few rules," he said, eyeing Kazuki in particular, "No using powers." Kazuki's smile dropped, and it became even more clear than it had been before the he had planned to use his 'luck' power to insure that he spun for Cindy every time. "And no matter who spins who, teasing about it later. Also, remember that we _all_ agreed to play this game, so nobody should complain or get angry about it later."

"Yeah, yeah, sit down _Kingling_." Bade grinned unashamedly at his brother, knowing that the last rule had been directed at him and his jealous tendencies.

He and Ryan hade been born only a few weeks apart, and had spent just about their entire lives together. They hadn't found it odd at all, in fact, when they found out that they were mates, about a year ago now. Seeing how the rest of their family was, no one else really had anything to say about it either, but Bade (the older of the two) was very protective of his little half-brother, and had always been known to take things a bit too far where Ryan was concerned.

"If that's all," Ren said, his twin brother Ryuu sitting silently beside him, "Let's begin."

"Yes," Atsuko said, donning a pure 'Fuji' smile, "Let's begin."

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Spin the bottle, in Atsuko's mind, was an endlessly amusing game. Three times already, she had seen people take the penalty after spinning Ryan. Ryan was starting to look like he was doubting his attractiveness, but it was clear to everyone else that it was Bade (currently sharpening an ice sword, looking unconcerned) that was deterring them. Kazuki had also taken the penalty, stating that under_no_ circumstances would he kiss his sister.

The penalty ranged, as it more or less meant that you had to do a dare, which was chosen by the person you spun. Ayumu hadn't had his turn yet, but Atsuko could almost feel him dreading it, even if he looked quite composed on the outside. Even more so than that, though, she knew he was terrified of that bottle pointing towards Sora.

"Hey, 'Suko," Jasony's voice brought her back to the real world. He was grinning (looking more like a fox than a dog) and she looked down at the bottle, which was pointed directly at her. "Your turn."

"You sly dog," She teased, "Did you black mail poor little Kazuki into using his power to help you get some?"

"Oi, oi, oi!" Jasony objected, raising his hands in self-defense, "It's just a kiss, Love, don't make me out to be some pervert!"

"But you did use poor little Kazuki...?" Atsuko asked with a smirk. Jasony turned a fitting red, and Atsuko chuckled. "I do believe their was a rule about using powers to cheat."

"It's only cheating if you get caught," Jasony insisted, red hair bristling a bit, knowing that he was losing this argument. "Until then, it's just... Imaginative strategizing."

"Oh? Didn't I just catch you?"

"Just kiss me you dumb old bird."

"I'm insulted," Atsuko said, but leaned in anyway and gave him a slight kiss on the lips. "Good enough?"

"Not nearly!" Jasony pouted, "Miki and Shizuka practically went at it, and all I get is a peck?"

"You did call me a 'dumb old bird'," Atsuko chided.

"I'm sorry. I love you. Please?" He gave her his infamous 'puppy dog eyes' (inherited from Eiji).

"Hey now! Save your lover's spats and 'making up' for later!" Kaito rolled his eyes at them. "Just spin already, 'Suko."

Atsuko shrugged and spun the bottle. She froze as the bottle came to a stop. Sora. No, she couldn't kiss him, that really wouldn't be fair to Ayumu. After all, they were twins, and she was a girl, so no doubt this would make him uncomfortable. Quick, she needed an excuse.

"Spin the bottle... It's a little boring, don't you think?" Miki said, a slight smile on her face, her eyes looking amused. "Perhaps, a different game, to change the pace?"

"Yeah," Yasuo groaned, "Kissin' is fun and stuff, and it's funny when people cringe about who they spun, but really? Not too fun when I don't spin for Kaito." He gave the dog-boy a wink and a smirk.

Kaito blushed, "Er... So, what kind of game?"

A devilish smile that you normally would not see from her came over her face. "Well, I'll tell you this: it has to do with chairs, laps, and the color of the clothes you are wearing."

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"Hey, 'Mitsu?" Shusuke asked as they lay together on the couch, the lights turned low and all of the electronics off. "Are you upset that we can't be with them on their birthday?"

"Shuu, if you wanted them to stay with us, you should have just said so," Kunimitsu said, running his fingers through his love's hair, which was a few inches longer than it had been when they were students. He nearly chuckled to think that even now, at twenty-seven, Shusuke could still easily be mistaken for a girl.

"No, I'm fine," Shusuke shook his head, "They've got friends and partners they should be able to spend time with, and I really encourage that, I just..." He stopped, knowing he was getting to sentimental. 'Motherhood' must have been getting to him.

"Go on," Kunimitsu prompted.

"I just... I wish that we had more, you know... Birthdays to celebrate."

"Shusuke," Kunimitsu started, taking the other's face in his hands. Shusuke, however, turned his head away quickly, a small blush staining his cheeks. "Shusuke..." Kunimitsu reached around the other and grabbed his chin softly, turning him gently back to face him. "Love, do you want to have another child?"

"I..." Shusuke's face reddened even more, and he nodded. Kunimitsu smiled, and then kissed him.

"Then we'd better get started," Kunimitsu smiled, and rolled so that Shusuke was underneath him rather than being side-by-side.

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"Alright, So, here's how it works," Miki explained, "I'll state something that starts with 'if' and if it's true (for you), then you move forward one chair."

"But if the person front of you doesn't move then..." Kaito said, paling.

"Then you'll have to sit in their lap, yes," Miki nodded. "And the first person to get back to their original seat (thus the name tags on them) is the winner."

"Sounds fun," Cindy said, and nodded resolutely. "Let's get on it."

"Yes," Kazuki grinned, "_Let's_." Cindy smacked him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inui frowned at his lover, his green eyes (his glasses removed now that they were home) studied his husband carefully. "You didn't drink anything tonight," he noted, "And you look a bit green, Love. Is something wrong?"

Kaoru tensed. "What makes you say that?"

Inui's eyebrow rose. "Other than what I just said? Momo challenged you to a drinking contest three times and you just brushed him off. There's_only_ a ninety-eight percent chance something is wrong. You're right, what reason have I to suggest something might be wrong." Kaoru grimaced; Inui's sarcasm skills had certainly improved over the years.

"... I'm sorry," He let out in a low hiss. He then felt Inui's strong arms wrap around him, and he relaxed into the embrace.

"Don't apologize, Kaoru-chan, I just want to know what's wrong," Inui whispered to him. "Especially with how sick you've been lately."

"Nothings... Fshuuu... Wrong, really, It's just..." He blushed and leaned back to whisper it into his lover's ear. Inui promptly fainted. Kaoru sighed, deciding that he should call the doctor, when Inui abruptly sat back up.

"A kid... We're going to have a kid?" He looked at Kaoru with childlike eyes that the other had never seen him with before. They held a question, asking him for an answer.

"Yes, one hundred percent sure," he said. Inui smiled, and held out his hand for Kaoru to help him up.

And then promptly pulled him down onto the floor with him, laughing joyously the entire time.

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As it ended up, Atsuko won the 'lap stack' game, and it was unanimously decided that it was time to head to back. The older kids that said that it was because no matter how old they were mentally, the youngest of them were still only seven years old, and they needed the sleep. So, naturally, they got the most protest from them. Still, once beds were lain out, they were the first asleep, adorably curled up, side-by-side.

Sora lie down next to Ayumu, still in his uniform (though he didn't really care) and watched the other boy carefully, not wanting to go to far or make him uncomfortable. Perhaps laying down together had been a bad idea. All he wanted to do was take the younger in his arms and hold him close all night long.

"Noboru-senpai...?" Sora looked to see that Ayumu was giving him a (if he looked hard enough to see it) 'Are-You-Okay?' look, blue eyes looking extremely innocent and vulnerable, despite his normally stoic face-set.

"It's nothing, Ayumu," Sora answered, shaking his head with a small smile. "Shall we go to bed?"

Ayumu froze up and Sora blushed, realizing what he had just said.

"I meant sleep! I meant 'Shall we go to--" He was silenced as Ayumu, in a bold move, moved forward and covered his senpai's lips with his own. As he moved back, Sora could have sworn he saw a smirk on Ayumu's face before he cuddled into his chest.

"Goodnight, Noboru-senpai."

Sora, recovering from the shock, wrapped his arms securely around hid younger charge and smiled. "Goodnight, Ayumu."

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"Ryuu," Ren reached out to his twin, but his hand was batted away. Ren bit his lips, wanting to cry.

"No, Ren," Ryuu said resolutely. "We can't do this."

"Please," Ren's pleading came out in a quiet breath, his eyes wet with unshed tears. It hurt for his twin to treat him like this, his only twin, his only love. Despite his best effort, he began to cry.

Ryuu's eyes softened, and he desperately fought the natural impulse to take his twin into his arms, run his fingers through those soft, blonde curls, so like his own, and whisper that everything would be alright into his brother's ear. But he couldn't do that. Because everything _wasn't_ going to be alright. "Please, Ren, don't cry."

"W-why shouldn't I?" Ren sobbed, trying to keep quiet, as their were others sleeping not too far from them. "I'm your mate, you're mine, but you won't _do_ anything about it, won't even let me touch you..."

"Ren," Ryuu said sorrowfully, "We _can't_."

"Why not!" Ren had yelled without meaning to, and Ryuu covered his mouth with his hands. Ren's eyes half-closed at the contact from his destined mate, and he let a low purr emit from his throat.

"Because, we are _twins,_ Ren, that would make our being together_Twincest, _something not widely excepted by society. Besides, we're expected to carry on the family name, and we _can't_ do that, if neither of us can have kids." He removed his hands from Ren's mouth and the other whimpered.

"But we can have Dr. Hatchett run the tests next year, after we turn eleven, and we have a fifty-percent chance each of being able to. We could just start a relationship now, and then if..." He couldn't say it.

Ryuu shook his head. "If we got together now, it would be much to hard to let each other go later. Anyway, what would our parents say?"

"I.. Don't know..." Ren started sobbing again, and this time Ryuu followed his instincts and took his love into his arms, petting those curls softly.

"Ren, Ren, Love, look at me." Ren looked up at him obediently, face shining with tears, and cheeks tinted with a reddish blush. "In just over a month, we'll have a new baby in our family. Promise me that if it's a girl, you'll try to be strong so that we can full-fill our duties to our parents."

Ren let out a choking sob, and Ryuu held him tighter.

"But, if it's a boy," Ryuu said, his voice soft, "If it's a boy, let's give you and me a try."

Ren nodded and buried his face into his twin's chest, his tears getting on the other's shirt. For once, Ryuu didn't push away. Chances were, hey were going to have a long journey ahead of them.

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**Note- Last note for a while, I think, unless I forgot something on this list! If so, just tell me about it, or make requests for other info, I don't mind at all!**

**" "'s are the meanings fort he Kanji in their names, or just the general name **

**meaning, if not in Japanese.**

**Fuji-Tezuka-**

**Ayumu- 12- M- "Dream" and "Walk"**

**Birthday: Nov. 18 **

**POWER- Telepathy, telekinesis**

**Animal- A mixed hybrid species of Kunimitsu's and Shusuke's bird types. Primarily **

**Raven.**

**Atsuko- 12- F- "Warm" and "Child" **

**Birthday: Nov. 18**

**POWER- Clairvoyance and Prophecy **

**Animal- A mixed hybrid species of Kunimitsu's and Shusuke's bird types. Primarily Letter-winged Kite.**

**Gakuto-Yuushi-**

**Narumi- 2- F- "Seed" and "Beautiful"- Birthday: Feb. 13**

**POWER- She inherited Yuushi's gift. Seeing as she can't really control it yet, she **

**sometimes spontaneously bursts into flame. (Now, imagine her at daycare -Laughs.-)**

**Animal- Gakuto's Rabbit ears, Yuushi's Bat wings. A hybrid.**

**Jirou-Atobe-**

**Ren- 11- M- "Lotus"- **

**Birthday: Oct. 31**

**POWER- He and his twin share a telepathic connection, but they cannot read anyone else's mind.**

**Animal- Total Tiger, with Atobe's wings.**

**Ryuu- 11- M- "Dragon"- **

**Birthday: Oct. 31**

**POWER- He and his twin share a telepathic connection, but they cannot read anyone else's mind.**

**Animal- Tiger, bird wings.**

**Suzu- 4- F- "Bell"- **

**Birthday: June 6**

**POWER- Can turn invisible.**

**Animal- Mostly Bird, just a tiger tail.**

**(On the way)- **

**Due date- Dec. 20**

**Sanada-Yukimura-**

**Miki- 10- F- "Beautiful" and "Chronicle"- Birthday: Sept. 13**

**Power- N/A.**

**Animal- Snow Leopard.**

**Kohaku- 5- M- "Amber"- Birthday: May 3**

**Power- Like Yukimura, he can turn powers OFF.**

**Animal- Ferret**

**Sachiko- 3- F- "Happiness" and "Child"- Birthday: April 30**

**Power- Inflicts her emotions on others. She cannot control it all of the time, but she is pretty good at it.**

**Animal- Half Ferret, Half Snow leopard.**

**Eiji-Oishi(It's only fitting that they have a huge family, right?)-**

**Jasony- 11- M- (Name courtesy of: MintIceCream, if it has a meaning, I do not know it)- **

**Birthday: June 1**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- Dog.**

**Kaito- 9- M- "Sea" and "Soar"- **

**Birthday: Jan. 12**

**Power- Can create force-fields.**

**Animal- Dog**

**Cindy- 7- F- (Name courtesy of: PinkFloweree)- Cindy, I do not know, but 'Cythia' is "The Latinized form of Greek Kynthia which means "woman from Kynthos". This was an epithet of the Greek moon goddess Artemis, given because Kynthos was the mountain on Delos on which she and her twin brother Apollo were born."- **

**Birthday: Feb. 28**

**POWER- Her amazing slapping skills. Not really a power, but amazing, none-the-less. Poor Kazuki.**

**Animal- Bear**

**Chiyo- 6- F- "Thousand" and "World"- **

**Birthday: March 27**

**POWER- Can make imaginary things real. Good for when she wants some 'prince' to protect her, bad as far as 'monsters under the bed' go.**

**Animal- 1/2 bear, 1/2 dog**

**Arata - 3- M- "Fresh, New"- **

**Birthday: Jan. 1**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- "He's just a pup!" -Laughs.-**

**Isamu - six months- M- "Courage, Bravery"- **

**Birthday: June 16**

**Power- None yet known.**

**Animal- Bear**

**Kaoru-Inui-**

**(ON THE WAY! Woot!)**

**Due date- July 25 (I'm hoping it will be a little kitty-baby. CUTE!)**

**Ryoma-Momo-**

**(None so far)**

**Shishido-Choutarou-**

**Yasuo- 8- M- (Name courtesy of: Sweet Obsidian Rain)- "Peaceful One"-**

**Birthday: July 15**

**Power- No REAL power, but he certainly holds a power over Kaito, ne?**

**Animal- Horse**

**Hibiki- 4- M- "Echo"- **

**Birthday: Aug. 15**

**Power- "Super screech". I feel sorry for the Silver Pair.**

**Animal- Like Choutarou.**

**Akira-Shinji-**

**Chou- 6- F- "Butterfly"- **

**Birthday: Dec. 12**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- SQUIRELLE!**

**Kanon- 3- F- "Flower" and "Sound"- **

**Birthday: Oct. 18**

**Power- Super Speed (I see a "Rhythm" freak in the making!)**

**Animal- Cheetah**

**Akutsu-Dan-**

**(None so far (Because Akutsu won't allow it. Dan managed talked him into marriage though, about a year ago. -Sweatdrop.-)**

**Niou-Yagyuu-**

**Shizuka- 9- F- "Quiet" and "Summer"- **

**Birthday: July 30**

**Power- Persuasion, she's like your every-day siren. **

**Animal- 1/2 cat, 1/2 rat. Perhaps she has personality issues.**

**Kazuki- 7- M- "One" and "Hope"- **

**Birthday: March 7**

**Power- Controls 'luck', inflict good or bad luck on anyone, including himself.**

**Animal- Cat**

**Hotaru- 5- F- "Firefly"- **

**Birthday: Sept. 1**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- Rat**

**Ikasu-Akaya-Bunta-**

**Bade- 9- M (Ikasu)- MintIceCream say's it's Arabic (Thank you!), but it means "Full Moon". **

**Birthday: Dec. 31**

**POWER- Ice, like BOTH of his parents. Really, what were the chances otherwise?**

**Animal- Dog**

**Ryan- 9- M (Akaya)- Gaelic in origin, it means "Little King"-**

**Birthday: Dec. 31**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- 1/2 Chinchilla, 1/2 Dog**

**Chiyuki- 18 months- F (Akaya)- "Thousand" and "Snow"-**

**Birthday: May 18**

**Power- None yet known**

**Animal- Chinchilla**

**--**

**Mate/Pairing Chart-**

**Ayumu-Sora (12, 13), Sora is Ayumu's mate, but, remember, Sora is not tied by that bond.**

**Atsuko-Jasony (12, 11), Mates, they have an established relationship. Atsuko definitely wears the pants. **

**Ren-Ryuu (11, 11), You read the chapter, you know the conditions, you'll just have to wait and see whether they get together or not. What do you guys think? Twincest or no?**

**Miki-Shizuka (10, 9), Yes, I decided to try a Yuri pairing, my first ever. If anyone **

**has a problem with that, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to change it.**

**Kazuki-Cindy (7, 7), We call this a 'kinda' pairing. You know they like each other, **

**and they're PROBABLY mates, but they're a little too young to tell.**

**Yasuo- Kaito (8, 9), DEFINITELY mates. They're so cute... I want to write about them more.**

**Bade-Ryan (9, 9), Mates, you know most of it from Bade's thoughts, I believe. They're half brothers, so this is incest, I would say.**


	6. Chapter 6

-1Hello anybody reading this!

Well, a few things: 1) I am sorry about the delay. There have been... Issues about the computer in my family, and I have not had as much time to type. 2) Critical Beat will probably be much shorter than Trivial Pulse. I already have an idea for an ending, and a few things between now and then. 3) I have serious writer's block. I can not think of what to do next, exactly. I hate to do this, but if you people have a scene idea, (Like the person who wanted Fuji and Tezuka to kiss in the rain in Trivial Pulse) tell me, and I'll go the whole nine yards, if I can. 4) Not review answering this time, and it's short. Sorry.

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis, or it's characters, But I do own a few of the characters in this story (and if you're a true P.O.T. Fan, you'll know which ones they are without having to think about it).

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Sora blinked himself awake, thinking that it was rather warm, and he was quite comfortable. Upon fully opening his eyes, he was startled to find that he had no idea where he was. He let a startled gasp leave his throat, and heard a small noise in return, which made him look down. Seeing Ayumu there, curled up against his chest, left hand pressed against his own lips, eyes closed, still in dreamland, made him remember all that had happened the day before. He smiled to himself as he watched the younger boy sleep, so content just to lie there.

Sora studied his face closely, something he would have felt uncomfortable doing if Ayumu had been awake. The boy had long eyelashes that stood out against his pale cheeks like angel wings in a dark storm and delicate curves that were his high cheek bones and still boyish face. Sleeping like this, even with his short, tousled hair, he could easily be mistaken for a girl, young and innocent as he appeared, and truly was. There was a faint blush on the young boy's cheeks, Sora noted, as if he knew that he was slumbering in the arms of another man, and his lips (Sora didn't even want to get _started_ on those, else he should ravish his young partner in his sleep) were slightly parted, his sweet breath ghosting out with a gust of spring. He could feel the warmth of it on his chest, and the balminess of that small body against his own.

Another small noise escaped through Ayumu's lips and his wrist twitched, causing Sora to have to hold back a chuckle, wondering what the freshman was dreaming about. A small nose wrinkled in distaste at something in his dreamland, and then Ayumu's face relaxed into a dazzling smile. Sora felt like he had been struck by lightning, and decided that Ayumu was rather expressive in his sleep.

_'If only he could be like this when he was awake,' _Sora sighed, _'He's wonderful the way he is, I mean, but that would be so much easier.'_

Ayumu's eyes fluttered open as the last of his dream drifted off to the back of his mind. He smiled a little, thinking about his dream had how it had been about him and Sora playing tennis. (He's Kunimitsu's son, alright.) He had lost in the end, but it was still a wonderful dream. Now, he watched the focal point of his dream staring into space with chocolate brown eyes settled unconsciously out a window. Ayumu watched him silently enough that when Sora looked back to him, he might have shaved a few years off the other boy's life.

"Gah! Ayumu! You scared me," Sora said, patting his chest, his heart thundering. He hadn't expected those gorgeous blue eyes to be open, let alone settled so contentedly on him.

"... I'm sorry."

"Uh, no, no problem," Sora assured him, flashing a smile. "I just didn't think you were awake." He smirked, "What were you dreaming about?" Ayumu blushed slightly and Sora chuckled. "You're so expressive this morning."

"It's too early," Ayumu mumbled, and Sora chuckled again.

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"Shizuka-chan," Miki smiled, running a hand through her mate's hair. Shizuka purred and arched up into the contact, pleased, though still mostly asleep.

"Minn..." Shizuka grumbled, not happy to be awoken, despite the pleasant feel of Miki's fingers stroking her hair.

"Come on, Lovely One," Miki said, eyes soft, "Saturday or not, you can not sleep all day. Don't you want to spend it with me?" A pout went unseen, as Shizuka made a groaning noise and snuggled closer to Miki, eyes resolutely closed.

And then those startling, strangely mixed, golden-grey eyes were on her. "Five more minutes." Miki sighed and shook her head, but she could feel Shizuka's power on her, and (though she put up little of a fight) she felt herself nodding in response. Shizuka smiled and cuddled down into Miki's arms once more. Miki, on the other hand, swore that once the five minutes was over, she was going to make _sure _Shizuka woke up. And perhaps she would kiss her senseless while she was at it.

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Ryuu woke up with a feeling of utter self-hatred. How could he be _doing_ this? He was getting poor Ren's hopes up now... What would happen if it was a girl? Would Ren hate her for the rest of her life? Would he hate _him_, because he hadn't had the power to love him like he wanted to? Would he be utterly crushed- _destroyed- _by that poor act of fate?

Ryuu wanted to slap himself. He was an idiot. He shouldn't have made that deal!

He looked down at his sleeping twin with regret in his heart, and yet he knew that he too wished that that little baby would be a boy. He loved Ren. He really did, and that was why he couldn't let him be hurt. If they were together... People would hate them. _He_ could deal with that, but Ren... Poor Ren would be distraught. No, he simply couldn't allow it to happen.

That thought in mind, he slipped out of bed, careful not to wake his twin, and went out into the misty morning, hopefully to clear his head.

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"Good morning, Lover," Yasuo said with a smile on his face, lips brushing over Kaito's softly.

"Hmm," Kaito said, smiling against those lips, "Good morning indeed."

"Let's do something today," Yasuo suggested, lips descending on Kaito's again.

"Like what?" Kaito asked, leaning up to prolong their contact.

"I dunno," Yasuo said, sitting up, "We could play tennis, or go down town, or, if you wanted, we could convince Dan-oji-san to get us tickets to Jin-oji-san's fight tonight."

"Maybe... All of those?" Kaito asked, batting his eyelashes adorably.

Yasuo smiled, chuckling in amusement as he agreed, "Alright, all of those."

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"You awake, Cindy?"

"Shut up, Kazuki."

"I love you when you're not fully awake, you're so charming."

"... You're not so bad yourself."

"Why think you, Love, means a lot coming from you."

"Write it on your calendar."

"..."

"... Kazuki? Is that your _hand_?"

"... Maybe."

"Prick. Let go."

"Don't wanna."

Slap.

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Bade watched his lover dreaming peacefully and wondered if he had the heart to wake him. Well, a kiss was never a bad way to wake someone. But he looked so _content_ sleeping there. Ah screw it, he was gonna kiss him.

On that train of thought, he lowered his lips to the supple ones of his half-brother and smiled at Ryan's sound of agreement. Oh yeah, this had been the right choice.

"Hmm, Good morning," came Ryan's voice as they parted.

"An excellent morning indeed, my Kingling."

"Shut up, Mr. Mooney."

"You know you love me," Bade smirked.

"... Moot point."

And then lips connected again in a passionate kiss.

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"Atsuko," Jasony started, opening his eyes, but Atsuko, it seemed, was already awake and off. He sighed, knowing where she had probably gone, and also knowing that he probably was not welcome. Daisuki's grave.

Only once had he followed her there, and the look on her face had pained him greatly. She had pushed him away then. Well, actually, she had more kind of shrugged him off, but it had really hurt at the time. Now, he thought that he understood it.

Atsuko, as emotionally average as she seemed, if a bit sadistic, was actually a very sensitive person. She hated to be comforted, because it made her feel inadequate. She was strong, Jasony knew her strength well, but she still feared weakness, and hated when it was made clear to her that she was not as faultless as she wished to be, especially when it was done by someone close to her.

He made his way, a bit sleepily, to the window and looked out towards the cherry tree, under which, he could see Atsuko, as expected.

"Jasony?" He turned at the sound of his name, seeing that Ayumu was behind him. "Um... Sora and I were... Going into town. Could you tell Atsuko?"

Jasony smiled at the uncomfortable boy. Ayumu had always been like this with him, ever since it had been discovered that he and Atsuko were mates. Jasony suspected that Ayumu had once hated him (not consciously, of course) for 'taking his sister away', and now (having realized that he had once hated him) felt uncomfortable around him.

"Sure, Ayumu," He said, smiling characteristically, "Go have fun." Ayumu looked hesitant, but then left. Jasony watched as Sora and Ayumu's hands slipped together, and waited for Atsuko to come back.

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	7. Chapter 7

-1Hello anybody reading this!

Okay, so, new plots, fun-ness and a little drama. Enjoy. -Bows.- It is very late, sorry! -Bows more frantically.-

Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis, or it's characters, But I do own a few of the characters in this story (and if you're a true P.O.T. Fan, you'll know which ones they are without having to think about it).

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Ayumu was a bit surprised to think that he was having a very good time. Actually, he was more surprised that Sora was having just as much fun as he was. I was strange to think that he was keeping someone entertained, especially when he wasn't really doing much. I mean, they were pretty much just walking around downtown, but Sora seemed to be radiating happiness.

_'Maybe he really does like me...?'_ Ayumu thought to himself, but was cut out of his thoughts when Sora grabbed his hand. He jumped in surprise.

"Sorry, did I scare you," Sora asked, am apologetic smile on his face. He looked so good that Ayumu had to blush and look away. Sora chuckled at his reaction. "Hey, hey," Sora said, turning Ayumu's face back towards him. "If you keep turning away like that every time I smile, I might start to think you don't really like me."

Ayumu wanted to disagree; to tell Sora that he could never not like him, but his mouth wouldn't seem to function. So, he did the next best thing and wrapped himself firmly around his senpai, arms hold his waist tight, and he buried his face into Sora's shirt.

Sora's eyes softened, and he forgot, as Ayumu obviously had as well, that there were other people around. He placed a hand on Ayumu's head and ruffled his already unruly hair, chuckling. "You know..." He said, "You're actually surprisingly expressive, when I take a closer look."

"N-never..."

Sora was confused. "Sorry Lovely-One, didn't hear that."

"N-never... Not l-like you, S-sen...pai," Sora stuttered out, and Sora smiled, tightening his arms around his young boyfriend.

"Alright, alright," Sora chuckled, suddenly aware of the whispering people around them. "Come on, there's an ice cream shop over there. Why don't you head inside, I'll be in in a moment." Ayumu nodded and headed inside. Sora turned back to the crowd and bowed. "Thank you, ladies and gents, you've been a wonderful audience."

And then he headed inside.

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"What kind of ice-cream do you want, Ayumu?" Sora asked, feeling like he was on top of the world. But then, he was on a date with _Ayumu Tezuka_, how could he _not_ be?

"Strawberry," Ayumu said, holding Sora's hand tightly. He was just too cute, Sora thought, he obviously didn't understand that Sora had been joking when he had said that he might doubt Ayumu's feelings for him. The younger boy might not have been very good at expressing his emotions, but that had come across fairly clearly over the last too day. Sora doubted he could be happier.

"Alright, a strawberry for him and a chocolate for me," Sora smiled at the elderly lady who obviously owned the shop.

"Coming right up," she crooned, "So sweet, two brothers out for ice cream on a Saturday. Is your little brother having problems today?" Sora shook his head and handed Ayumu his ice cream as the woman handed it to him.

"I'm afraid I may have teased him a bit too much," Sora admitted, "He is a bit upset with me a think."

Ayumu shook his head feverishly.

"You're not?" the Old lady asked, eyebrow raised.

Ayumu shook his head again. The old lady smiled, handed Sora his ice cream, and the older boy amazingly found a way to pay her without dropping his ice cream or removing his arm from Ayumu's grasp.

"Have a good day, boys," The old woman said, her eyes holding a sort of timeless wisdom, as if she knew who they were now, and why they were here together.

"You too," Sora said back to her, and led Ayumu back to a corner booth.

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-Two Days Later-

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Bade _hated_ Mondays. Really, he did. Mondays were the scum of the Earth, and whoever had come up with them was a sadistic jerk. Then again, he reminded himself, if the weekend ended and he had to go back to school on Tuesday, he would probably hate it just as much. But, that was besides the point, it was Monday, he was back in school, he hated school, and thus hated Mondays. End of story.

Actually, _this_ Monday wasn't so bad. No, not really. In fact, so far this Monday had been bloody fantastic. Ryan had come into his class room on student council duties _twice_ (one of those times he had even gotten to give his brother a good butt-slap, and wasn't even caught), he had managed to get the teacher to let him out of the classroom for a whole ten minutes (spent pursuing Ryan and doing some serious snogging) on the excuse of a 'bathroom break', and _no _creepy girl had asked for his picture, phone number, or had jumped him in the hallways. Over all, a much better than average Monday.

But then there was the new student.

Adrian McClain. Some foreign kid that had transferred to Rikkaidai to 'broaden his horizons'. Funny, looked to Bade like he was much more interested in Ryan's backside (he kept staring at it all through P.E.) than any 'horizons'. Bade would have to set this guy straight.

After class, and just before lunch, Bade pulled Adrian aside to a deserted area of the halls and confronted him.

"Listen up, _McClain_," he growled, "_Stop_ eyeing Ryan's ass like he's some piece of meat, or I'll _make _you." Yep. Straight up. That's Bade for you.

"Why?" Adrian asked, a small smirk on his face. "He yours?"

"You better believe it," Bade said, not missing it when Adrian's smirk faltered for a moment. Then it was back.

"Fine," He said, "I'll leave your _brother_ alone." He moved close and, before Bade could react, kissed him hard. "You or your brother, it's all the same to me." He winked and moved around him.

Bade suddenly hear something drop, and looked back to see Ryan, eyes wide, jaw dropped and bag laying on the floor. Without a word, Bade's mate turn and ran, leaving his bag.

"Darn it," Bade cursed, knowing that Ryan must have not heard was Adrian had said, and now thought... He moved forward, picked up Ryan's abandoned bag, and headed off in the direction his brother had gone. He had to straighten this out.

Hadn't their parents once told them a story of how a similar thing happened to them? Bade had no time to think about it now.

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Yasuo was bored out of his mind.

_'Kaito should come to Hyotei...'_ He whined in his mind, desperately wishing that Kaito's parents would win the lottery and send Kaito to school with him. Then again, Kaito probably wouldn't come anyway; he loved Seigaku, and would probably remain at said escalator school all the way through university. Stupid Seigaku. Stupid _Hyotei_.

_'Screw this, I'm skipping.'_

And with that, Yasuo snuck off campus and was headed for Seigaku. And for Kaito.

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Ryan was on the roof.

Of course he was, where _else_ could he go at a time like this?

He felt stupid, but angry. Stupid, because he knew that Bade could never fall in love with anyone else. They were mates after all, and this thought made him think that he might have overreacted. But then there was the anger.

He was angry because even if Bade could love no one else, he could certainly lust over someone else, and Ryan had caught him _kissing_ the foreign exchange student!

Was he wrong to be upset? No, he didn't think so.

"Ryan." He turned at the sound of his name, seeing Bade, cheeks flushed pink and out of breath. If Ryan wasn't so angry, he might have been impressed, because Bade had obviously ran up to all five of Rikkaidai's roofs, looking for him. "Ryan, please, listen to me?"

"Why should I?" Ryan said. "Unless you plan to confess that you _were_ just kissing Adrian McClain, I don't want to hear any f your lies." Bade took a step forward. "Don't toy with me _Bade_," Ryan hissed, "Keep your distance." Calling him by his first name should get the point across, Ryan thought, seeing as he only ever called Bade 'Older Brother' or 'Mr. Mooney'.

It did. Bade gulped. Ryan leaned back against the railing on the roof.

"Ryan, don't--" 

"Don't tell me what to do!" Ryan thundered, and then gasped as the railing behind him gave out. Oh no, he was going to fall. He was going to fall and die after a fight with Bade over something that he had probably misunderstood? No, this wasn't right. "A-aniki..."

But Bade was there, catching him and pulling him back onto the roof and against his hard chest. Ryan shivered, eyes wide, as he realized how close he had been to being a bloody splatter on the pavement far below. He heard the gate hit the ground in the background, and Ryan grasped his brother tighter to him, as Bade mirrored his gesture.

"S-sorry, so sorry, I'm sorry," Ryan repeated, but Bade just shushed him.

"It's alright now. It's alright. I promise."

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**Just a memory refresher...**

**" "'s are the meanings fort he Kanji in their names, or just the general name meaning, if not in Japanese.**

**Fuji-Tezuka-**

**Ayumu- 12- M- "Dream" and "Walk"**

**Birthday: Nov. 18 **

**POWER- Telepathy, telekinesis**

**Animal- A mixed hybrid species of Kunimitsu's and Shusuke's bird types. Primarily Raven.**

**Atsuko- 12- F- "Warm" and "Child" **

**Birthday: Nov. 18**

**POWER- Clairvouyancy and Prophecy **

**Animal- A mixed hybrid species of Kunimitsu's and Shusuke's bird types. Primarily Letter-winged Kite.**

**Gakuto-Yuushi-**

**Narumi- 2- F- "Seed" and "Beautiful"**

**Birthday: Feb. 13**

**POWER- She inherited Yuushi's gift. Seeing as she can't really control it yet, she sometimes spotaniously bursts into flame. (Now, imagine her at daycare -Laughs.-)**

**Animal- Gakuto's Rabbit ears, Yuushi's Bat wings. A hybrid.**

**Jirou-Atobe-**

**Ren- 11- M- "Lotus"- **

**Birthday: Oct. 31**

**POWER- He and his twin share a telepathic contection, but they cannot read anyone else's mind.**

**Animal- Total Tiger, with Atobe's wings.**

**Ryuu- 11- M- "Dragon"- **

**Birthday: Oct. 31**

**POWER- He and his twin share a telepathic contection, but they cannot read anyone else's mind.**

**Animal- Tiger, bird wings.**

**Suzu- 4- F- "Bell"- **

**Birthday: June 6**

**POWER- Can turn invisible.**

**Animal- Mostly Bird, just a tiger tail.**

**(On the way)- **

**Due date- Dec. 20**

**Sanada-Yukimura-**

**Miki- 10- F- "Beautiful" and "Chronicle"- Birthday: Sept. 13**

**Power- N/A.**

**Animal- Snow Leopard.**

**Kohaku- 5- M- "Amber"- Birthday: May 3**

**Power- Like Yukimura, he can turn powers OFF.**

**Animal- Ferret**

**Sachiko- 3- F- "Happiness" and "Child"- Birthday: April 30**

**Power- Inflicts her emotions on others. She cannot control it all of the time, but she is pretty good at it.**

**Animal- Hafl Ferret, Half Snow leopard.**

**Eiji-Oishi(It's only fitting that they have a huge family, right?)-**

**Jasony- 11- M- (Name courtesy of: MintIceCream, if it has a meaning, I do not know it)- **

**Birthday: June 1**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- Dog.**

**Kaito- 9- M- "Sea" and "Soar"- **

**Birthday: Jan. 12**

**Power- Can create forcefields.**

**Animal- Dog**

**Cindy- 7- F- (Name courtesy of: PinkFloweree)- Cindy, I do not know, but 'Cythia' is "The Latinized form of Greek Kynthia which means "woman from Kynthos". This was an epithet of the Greek moon goddess Artemis, given because Kynthos was the mountain on Delos on which she and her twin brother Apollo were born."- **

**Birthday: Feb. 28**

**POWER- Her amazing slapping skills. Not really a power, but amazing, none-the-less. Poor Kazuki.**

**Animal- Bear**

**Chiyo- 6- F- "Thousand" and "World"- **

**Birthday: March 27**

**POWER- Can make imaginary things real. Good for when she wants some 'prince' to protect her, bad as far as 'monsters under the bed' go.**

**Animal- 1/2 bear, 1/2 dog**

**Arata - 3- M- "Fresh, New"- **

**Birthday: Jan. 1**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- "He's just a pup!" -Laughs.-**

**Isamu - six months- M- "Courage, Bravery"- **

**Birthday: June 16**

**Power- None yet known.**

**Animal- Bear**

**Kaoru-Inui-**

**(ON THE WAY! Woot!)**

**Due date- July 25 (I'm hoping it will be a little kitty-baby. CUTE!)**

**Ryoma-Momo-**

**(None so far)**

**Shishido-Choutarou-**

**Yasuo- 8- M- (Name courtesy of: Sweet Obsidian Rain)- "Peaceful One"- **

**Birthday: July 15**

**Power- No REAL power, but he certainly holds a power over Kaito, ne?**

**Animal- Horse**

**Hibiki- 4- M- "Echo"- **

**Birthday: Aug. 15**

**Power- "Super screech". I feel sorry for the Silver Pair.**

**Akira-Shinji-**

**Chou- 6- F- "Butterfly"- **

**Birthday: Dec. 12**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- SQUIRELLE!**

**Kanon- 3- F- "Flower" and "Sound"- **

**Birthday: Oct. 18**

**Power- Super Speed (I see a "Rhythem" freak in the making!)**

**Animal- Cheetah**

**Akutsu-Dan-**

**(None so far(Because Akutsu won't allow it. Dan managed talked him into marriage though, abotu a year ago. -Sweatdrop.-))**

**Niou-Yagyuu-**

**Shizuka- 9- F- "Quiet" and "Summer"- **

**Birthday: July 30**

**Power- Persuasion, she's like your every-day siren. **

**Animal- 1/2 cat, 1/2 rat. Perhaps she has personality issues.**

**Kazuki- 7- M- "One" and "Hope"- **

**Birthday: March 7**

**Power- Controls 'luck', inflict good or bad luck on anyone, including himself.**

**Animal- Cat**

**Hotaru- 5- F- "Firefly"- **

**Birthday: Sept. 1**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- Rat**

**Ikasu-Akaya-Bunta-**

**Bade- 9- M (Ikasu)- , but it means "Full Moon". **

**Birthday: Dec. 31**

**POWER- Ice, like BOTH of his parents. Really, what were the chances otherwise?**

**Animal- Dog**

**Ryan- 9- M (Akaya)- Gaelic in origin, it means "Little King"-**

**Birthday: Dec. 31**

**Power- N/A**

**Animal- 1/2 Chinchilla, 1/2 Dog**

**Chiyuki- 18 months- F (Akaya)- "Thousand" and "Snow"-**

**Birthday: May 18**

**Power- None yet known**

**Animal- Chinchilla**

**--**

**Mate/Pairing Chart-**

**Ayumu-Sora (12, 13), Sora is Ayumu's mate, but, remember, Sora is not tied by that bond.**

**Atsuko-Jasony (12, 11), Mates, they have an established relationship. Atsuko definitely wears the pants. **

**Ren-Ryuu (11, 11), You read the chapter, you know the conditions, you'll just have to wait and see whether they get together or not. What do you guys think? Twincest or no?**

**Miki-Shizuka (10, 9), Yes, I decided to try a Yuri pairing, my first ever. If anyone has a problem with that, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to change it.**

**Kazuki-Cindy (7, 7), We call this a 'kinda' pairing. You know they like each other, and they're PROBABLY mates, but they're a little too young to tell.**

**Yasuo- Kaito (8, 9), DEFINITELY mates. They're so cute... I want to write about them more.**

**Bade-Ryan (9, 9), Mates, you know most of it from Bade's thoughts, I beleive. They're half brothers, so this is incest, I would say.**

**Quote of The Day- "Total slaughter, total slaughter. I won't leave a single man alive. La de da de die, genocide. La de da de dud, an ocean of blood. Let's begin the killing time." -Vash the Stampede**


	8. Chapter 8

Hello Everyone. Sorry that it's been so long. My computer shut down and then I lost all my files, including what I had written for this chapter, and it took me a long time to work up the patience to write it all again. It SUCKED. And so, late as it is, and short as it is, this is the next chapter. Please enjoy.

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It was raining.

Sora sighed, upset at the world at that moment. He was upset at Namimaru-sempai, the tennis team captain, for keeping him at school late for a meeting, he was angry with his mother for freaking out so much that he was late for school that moring, which resulted with him standing in the hallway holding two buckets of water, and most of all, he was infuriated by this stupid rain.

"It's alright, Senpai..." Ayumu said softly from his side, his hand holding Sora's tightly as they stood alone in the doorway of the school. "I don't mind if it's raining, we can still go out."

Sora looked down at the young boy and frowned. He knew it was a bad idea to go out in that rain, but he was tempted to take Ayumu up on his offer. After all, few others would be out in the rain and that meant that they could hold hands and stuff, even though they were in public. But the rain... If Ayumu got sick...

"Sempai?" Ayumu asked, looking up at Sora with large, innocent looking eyes.Sora sighed, kissed Ayumu's forhead and took the other boy's hand, leading him out into the rain at a running pace.

They made it to the bus stop (which was covered, thankfully) without becoming too wet and Sora laughed at their predicament. This was crazy! Here they were, it was pouring rain, and they were planning on going downtown on a date. He stopped laughing immediately when he saw Ayumu shiver and instead moved to wrap the younger boy up into his arms, providing him with as much heat as he could.

A felt rather than saw a small smile spread across Ayumu's lips and heard that small voice wisper "Thank you, senpai". Sora just held him tighter.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked, pressing his lips softly to the freshman's hair, "We can still go home, I'll take you back to your house and we can just hang out and watch a movie, if you want."

Ayumu shook his head, determined. Sora held back a sigh, knowing that though Ayumu seemed young innocent and fairly emotionless most of the time, the boy did indeed have a stuburn streak. So, sora said nothing more on the subject and they continued to wait for the bus, which, luckily, arrived very soon after that.

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It was raining hard, and Ayumu was well aware of that.

Still, this was a date with Sora they were talking about, and Ayumu was NOT about to let a little rain come between him and a date with his senpai. Still this rain was terrible, they should find a place to go inside soon.

"Looks like there's a bakery over there," Sora said, somehow knowing Ayumu's every thought, like always. Sometimes Ayumu wondered if Sora was really a psycic too. He also wondered on a regular basis why he couldn't get into Sora's mind. Then again, he was also a bit glad, because it just made thing seem that much more _real_ between them.

"Yeah," Ayumu answered, and they headed across the street, entering the bakery quickly to get out of the rain.

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Yusuke Ono knew what he was seeing immediately when the two boys walked through the door. They stood too close to be 'just friends' and boys their age generally didn't hold hands with their brothers, not that these two looked anything like brothers in the first place. Part of Ono found it sweet that the two young boys seemed to have no fear of rejection, walking hand in hand like that, but another part of him was a little bit jealous. He was a player, and could anyone he wanted (just about, anyway) but he wished he had someone like that, who he could actually love and cherish, rather than just keep as a temporary boy-toy. That was what he wanted out of Chikage, but...

"Hello, boys, what can I do for you," Tachibana's voice interrupted his thoughts. The owner of the Antique Bakery and the only person immune to Ono's 'Demonic Charm' wore his winning 'bussiness man' smile as he talked to the two boys over the counter. "You're going to dine in, I'm assuming?"

"Good guess,"the taller boy chuckled, then looked down at the other boy and pointed towards the display case. "What would you like, Ayumu?" 'Ayumu' looked down at the display case, perfectly silent, and then back up to the taller boy, his eyes looking as if they were trying to comunnicate something. "What? Are you feeling shy?"

Ayumu gave him a slight, _slight_ glare, but Ono could see it, and hid a smile behind his hand.

"Hey, Master, what are you--?" Ono turned around quickly and clamped a hand down over Eiji Kanda's mouth, pressing a finger to his own lips. He then gestured back to the kitchen door, which he had been watching from. Kanda nodded in a promise to be quiet, and Ono cracked the door open again and they both watched on.

"Alright," The taller boy smiled, "I'll guess..." He looked at the display case thoughtfully once more. "From what I know of Ayumu's tastes, I would say that you want something with strawberries in it... And with out any nuts. I'd also be willing to bet that you want something that's super sweet, but not too big, because it would overwhelm you. How did I do?"

Ayumu just looked up at him, amazed. The taller boy chuckled.

"What would you have that matches that description?" He asked.

Tachibana looked thoughtful. "Well, most french pastries that have strawberries either have nuts of some kind, or are much larger than what you'd want... Hold on one moment please." Tachibana turned towards the kitchen and, seeing that the door was partially open, called for Ono. "Ono, what do you think?"

The patissier gave only a small sigh and came out into the kitchen. He came up to the counter, beside Tachibana, and smiled at the two boys. He then addressed Ayumu directly, careful to keep smile in place. "Are there _any_ kind of nuts you do like?"

"... Peanuts..." Ayumu said quietly. "But that's... Not much help, is it?"

"That depends..." Ono chuckled, "Do you care if it's pretty or not?"

Ayumu looked confused, and then slowly shook his head. Ono smiled again, gratefully, and went to get one of the new cakes that Kanda had made from the kitchen. Ayumu ate it without a word as to it's less-than-appealing looks, said it was tasty, thanked them, and then the two boys were back out in the rain again. Ono had a feeling that this story wasn't over yet.

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Taka and Kabaji walked through the orphanage quietly, looking through class windows into little rooms full of children playing. It made Taka sick, thinking that these kids were being put on display for the adults coming here, like they were animals at some kind of pet shop. This, howevere, only concreted his will to adopt from this place, and get some poor child out of this orphanage.

He didn't want a 'traditional' orphan. He didn't want someone so broken that they would except Kabaji and he himself as their parents automatically, just because they were there. He didn't want someone who caused nothing but trouble either, though. He wanted someone who stood out, hwo caught his attention, but was modest, someone strong, someone willful, but also someone who did not throw their weight around. He didn't know if he could find a child like that, but if he did, he knew that he would know it.

That was when he saw him, sitting by himself in a corner of a small room, away from where the other children were playing, and looking longingly out of a window. He recognized the expresion on that face immediately: the need to be outside, the need to be free, and to move and run. He could tell immediately that this boy...

"Baby, that boy's a positive, isn't he?" Kabaji asked quietly from Taka's side, and Taka nodded.

"He's the one, Munehiro," He said, and then raised his voice so that the lady givng them their 'tour' could hear him. "We would like to talk to that boy over there, please."

"That one? Oh, you don't want him, that's Ayase-kun and he's rather... Odd..." The woman said, "I could introduce you to some other children, though, if you'd like."

"We would like to talk to Ayase-kun," Kabaji said firmly, stepping out in front of Taka, towering over the woman for added effect.

"O-okay, right this way, p-please," thye woman stuttered.

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Ayase didn't like this, not at all. He had been taken away from his window into a windowless, stuffy room, and now two men that he didn't know were coming in to sit across the table from him. And that woman.

He didn't know he name, but he recognized this woman well; she didn't like him, because of what he was. Hell, his own parents had aboandoned him because of what he was, but this woman was simply cruel. She withheld food from him, and made sure that no one would ever want to adopt him.

And he hated her back.

"Hello, Ayase-kun." Ayase looked at the man who spoke to him, and then looked deeper into the man's aura. It was a pleasently light yellow, and it surprised Ayase slightly. Very rarely did he see an adult with such a light aura. Actually, he had never seen an aura like that on an adult before, only on the youngest of orphaned children, the ones who would still do you a favor without wanting something in return. When you lived in an orphanage, that was squashed out of you really quickly.

Ayase said nothing, but then looked to the other man. This man's aura was also interesting; At first glance it looked like a flat peach-orange, but on closer look there were many colors hidden inside that one main color. The important thing was that Ayase did not see anything threatening from these people.

"Ayase-kun doesn't speak," The lady said, and Ayase could hear the disgust which she tried to keep hidden in her voice, and saw that her aura was the same puke green-brown that it had always been. Reflecting on it now, telling her that her aura was so ugly had not been the right foot to start on, all those years ago. Ayase's aura-seeing abilities were always useful, but also very good at getting him into trouble, so he remained silent at all times. He wasn't even sure if his voice _could_ work anymore, after it's years of non-use.

"_We_ would like to speak with Ayase-kun, _alone_, if you don't mind," The light-aura-ed man said, and the woman glanced from him to the taller man with him, and then hurriedly left the room. The light-aura-ed man turned back to Ayase with a smile on his face. "Let's start again, shall we? Hello, Ayase-kun, I'm Takashi Kabaji, and this is Munehiro Kabaji. We are interested in adopting you."

Ayase could have laughed; this person was very straight-to-the-point, just like his aura had suggested. Ayase again said nothing, but watched the two expectantly. Ther was more, he could feel it.

"Ayase-kun..." the taller Kabaji leaned over the table and then whispered, "We're like you."

This time, Ayase _did_ physically react, as the surprise of hearing that statement made him take a movement backwards, a look of surprise coming to his face. And then the two were changing in front of him and he could see that what they said was true. Ayase moved his mouth and tried to form words, but none would come. He frowned and put a hand to his throat. Nothing was coming out.

Ayase felt fear then for the first time in years. Had he really lost his voice?

"Ayase-kun, not using your voice for long periods of time can make you temporarily lose it," The taller Kabaji said, "With proper rehibilitation, you can get it back, I promise."

Ayase tried once more to try and form words, but at another failure caused his face to twist into a frustrated glare. Munehiro Kabaji chuckled and pulled a small notepad and a pen out of his deep coat pocket, handing it to the young boy.

'What do _you_ intend to do?'

"We told you, Ayase," Takashi Kabaji chuckled mild-temperedly, "We plan to adopt you, if you are willing to let us."

Ayase remained silent for a moment, and then scribbled something more on the paper. He held it up when he was done for the two men to see.

'What are we waiting for?'

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Notes:

1. I really like Ayase, and his ability to see people's auras. I'm going to enjoy writing more about him in the future.

2. About Yusuke Ono, Eiji Kanda, and Tachibana at the Bakery, are all from the manga Antique Bakery. If you haven't read them, then don't weat it. They WILL show up again, but you really don't need to know anything about them to enjoy it. If you want to know what they look like, Google their names. Also, for those who HAVE read it, Chikage is going to show up later, I promise.

That's all, hope you enjoyed it. Ja mata ne!


	9. Chapter 9

It's short, but I think you'll all like it anyway. Please remember while reading this that Shusuke doesn't want his 'babies' to grow up. That is why he's kind of... harsh in respect to Sora. Enjoy!

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Ayumu hadn't met Ayase yet, Taka-oji-san and Munehiro-oji-san's new son, but he knew that the other boy had very quickly been accepted into their 'little family'. Enough so, in fact, that everyone was moving back into the Trivial Property once more so that Ayase would be able to learn to deal with... Everything that was happening to him, Ayumu supposed. It certainly didn't hurt that Ayumu himself would be there to help the boy get his thoughts across, as Ayumu had heard that Ayase was to be going through extensive therapy for his voice. 

"Ayumu, where should I put this?" Sora asked, holding up one of Ayumu's many books.

"Until the shelves come in... We will leave them in the box," Ayumu said quietly, and Sora smiled at him. For some reason, it seemed to make Sora happy when Ayumu spoke more. Ayumu liked to see the other boy smile, and so he did his best to speak in complete sentances for him.

"Gotcha," Sora answered, and continued to work before pausing to sneeze. Sora rubbed his nose sheepishly, "Excuse me-- Achoo!" Sora sneezed again and Ayumu looked at him inquizitively. He then crossed the room and pressed his forehead to that of the blushing boy's.

"You have fever," Ayumu said simply, but anyone who knew him could see the fear and worry in his eyes. "You should lie down." Sora started to protest, but Ayumu shook his head and the other boy fell obediantly silent. He then allowed Ayumu to led him over to one of the two beds in the room, and crawled under the covers at Ayumu's silent order. The younger boy kissed his forehead and quietly informed him that he was going to go and call Dr. Hatchett. There was a silent threat in his eyes that told him that he was not allowed to leave the bed until he came back.

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"You were right to call me, Ayumu, he has a fever of 104," Dr. Hatchett sighed. "I'm going to say that bed rest and cold medicine are the best for you, young man, and you can call me aain if it does not blow over by the end of the weekend. You will probably have to miss some school."

"How do you always get here so fast?" Sora asked, his cheeks flushed with fever and his eyes half drooped.

"That's just the fever talking, son, take some medicine and you'll stop thinking such things in no time," Dr. Hatchett promised.

"It's not the fever, I was just wondering how you always manage to drop everything to come when you're called. No human outside of a fanfiction should be able to do that!" Sora exclaimed, and Dr. Hatchett sighed.

"Good luck, Ayumu," Dr. Hatchet said, and Ayumu nodded in answer before the elderly man left the room.

"Do you think that we're in some kind of fanfiction, Ayumu?"

"It's just the fever, Senpai," Ayumu said, taking the cloth on Sora's head and rewetting it in a bowl of cold water.

"Hmm, I love you Ayumu," Sora said dazedly and Ayumu just nodded. He had a feeling that it was going to seem like a long while until Sora was better.

"And I love you, Senpai."

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Ayase found that he was in an odd situation. He was around people like himself for the first time in his life, and there were so many of them! And now they werer all living together, and had been since the day before... To be completely honest, Ayase was feeling incredibly grateful for that, because it made it seem like less of a transition from the orphanage, which also had many many people, and which he had spent his entire life until now in.

'I'm at the bottom,' Ayase reminded himself, 'I can only go up.'

"Excuse me, Ayase-kun, is it?" Ayase turned to see a smiling man standing behind him, leaning against the frame of his open door. Ayase nodded an affirmative to the man. This man had a... strange aura, there was no other way to put it. It was orage and blue and yellow and purple... Colors that did not normally mix. Yes, this person was interesting, but not dangerous, well not for Ayase anyway. "I'm Shusuke Tezuka," The man said, "I just wanted to introduce myself, since I saw your door open."

Ayase watched the man carefully, not sure of how to respond to that without the use of his voice. Thankfully, Tezuka-san made it easy for him.

"I have two children myself, Ayumu and Atsuko," Shusuke went on. Ayase nodded. He had seen the girl, Atsuko. She also had an interesting aura, but hers was a bit more direct than her father's-- It had practically screamed 'I'm cute and adorable, but I'm also smart and feisty, so there'. He had learned of her name and of her twin brother through Takashi at dinner the night before, but Ayumu had yet to make an appearance. Apparently he was holed up in his room. He had yet to hear the reason for the strange behavior.

"Actually," Shusuke's voice brought him back to the subject at hand, "Ayase, I have a favor to ask you."

One of Ayase's eyebrows rose in question. Shusuke chuckled.

"My son, Ayumu, has been up in his room, tending to his sick... Fukubuchou, and I'm starting to worry. He hasn't even been taking his meals with the rest of us, I'm sure you've noticed." Shusuke sighed, "His Fukubuchou only has a cold, and it's not like Ayumu needs to be by his side at every second, so I'd like you to convince him to go out for a bit. Would you?"

Ayase gave the smiling man a look, rtying to communicate the simple question of 'how?'. Shusuke smiled, clearly understanding.

"Ayumu is an acute psychic. Reach out to him with your mind and he will hear you, voice or no voice." Ayase was intrigued by this, and so nodded an afirmative.

Shusuke smiled again and pat the young boy on the back as he went past. "Thank you, Ayase-kun, you're a huge help."


	10. Chapter 10

Short, but new, and much quicker. I hope that you all enjoy. If I need to provide background info on the Antique Bakery people, please just let me know.

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They were alone. Him and Chikage. Yusuke Ono stayed stalk-still, knowing that Chikage's eyes, hidden as usual behind his sunglasses, were on his back at this moment. He couldn't afford to turn around, to meet those eyes, or even to glance at the taller man standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He knew that if he looked, there would be trouble. His self-control was already paper thin, and now they were alone. 

"Mr. Ono?"

Yusuke twitched. "Y... Yes, Chikage-san?"

"When will My Lord and Kanda-kun be back again?"

'Are you that anxious to get away from me?' Yusuke thought sardonically, though he knew that even he himself was eagerly awaited the return of the store's owner, Tachibana (whom Chikage called 'My Lord', apparently a left-over habit from an old game that they had played as children. It always made Yusuke jealous) and young Eiji Kanda, his talented former-deliquent, ex-boxer, cake-loving apprentice. "Tachibana will be back an hour before closing, and Eiji-kun will be back two hours after that. You know that he has French class at this time."

"Oh," Chikage said, and Yusuke could tell without turning away from the batter he was mixing that the man, older than him by two years, had slumped his shoulders. "So another...?" Yusuke smiled as he imaged the innocent (or idiotic, depending on how you looked at him) man's expression as he tried to calculate the remaining time till his 'lord's' return.

"Two hours and Forty-five minutes, Chikage-san," He supplied, "That is how long until everyone will be back. Tachibana should be here in an hour and a half, knowing him. He always does seem to arrive earlier than planned." Tachibana was out on business errands at the bank and the suppliers, this happened weekly, though their fruits and vegetables arrives fresh each morning.

Yusuke then poured his batter into a small cake-pan, satisfied with it's color and smell, and placed into their large baker's oven. He smiled, feeling good about having finished his last real task (other that removing the cake and storing if properly so that it would still be fresh and ready to decorate the next morning) for the day, and was glad to be able to relax. But was uncomfortable to no longer have something to keep his hands busy. He jumped as he felt hands gently grip his arms.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Ono? You seem tense." Yusuke felt a shiver go up and down his spine and he surpressed the urge to show Chikage exactly why he was tense.

'No, no,' he said to himself. 'I pormised myself, remember? I promised myself that I wouldn't do this to him. He's much too good for me. Damn it, Ono!'

Thankfully, Ono was saved from himself by the bell on the door ringing, telling them that they had customers. Chikage let go of Yusuke's arms and left the kitchen, though the baker could feel him looking back, as if a to promise that he would find out what was bothering the pattisier, eventually. Chikage was just too innocent.

After a moment of debate, Yusuke followed Chikage out to the counter, ready to help if Chikage had an air-headed moment and was unable to help the customer. Well, he would help unless it was a woman... But that was a tale for another time. He was slightly surprised to see that the young boy from two days before, the quiet one with the interesting sense of taste, was back, but with a different boy then he had been with before. Ono was pleased, however, to see that these two were obviously not intimate like young... Ayumu, wasn't it?... and the other boy, 'Noboru-sempai', had been. Though he was a player himself, Yusuke would have hated to see two young boys so obviously in love break up so quickly.

"Ayumu-kun!" Ono smiled, coming forward now, "Good afternoon, who is your friend?"

"This is my cousin... He is mute," Ayumu explained, "We would like... Something new." He looked at Chikage with large doe-like eyes, "Any suggestions?"

"Buche de Noel!" Chikage said, a dreamy look coming over his face. Yusuke chuckled. It was only November 23rd, but they had already begun selling their holiday cakes, especially their ever popular Buche de Noel.

"What is that?" Ayumu asked and Chikage gave him a wise-soundng speak on the cake.

"The Buche de Noel is a lot like a shortcake in rolled form, and is filled with strawberries and chestnut buttercream, which we make here with real butter instead of shortening or margerine, so the cream is light and delactable, rather than bitter and slightly hardened." Chikage said informedly, and then ruined all of the professionalism he had just shown, by adding, "And it's really, really yummy!"

"Chestnut...?" Ayumu asked, seeming a little put off.

"It doesn't taste like chestnuts, nor are there full chestnuts in it, Ayumu-kun," Yusuke assured, "If you're not allergic to nuts, I would recommend trying it."

Ayumu shared a quick look with Ayase and then nodded. "We will try that."

"Alright," Ono said accomidatingly and grabbed one of the small sized Buche de Noels from the display case. Chikage then took the decorated plate out to the table the two boys had settled down at. He was alerted by the tinkling of the bell on the door. "Kanda! You're back already?"

"Yeah," Eiji Kanda said, scratching the back of his head with a misceivious look on his face. "Madame Butt-Chin let class out way early for some reason. Something about having an appointment with the plastic sergion."

"Surely you're joking."

"Yeah, she had to drive her fiance to the doctor's. Said since we was big kids and all, we should just deal with not having class."

"Is her fiance alright?"

"Peachy. Think he broke his leg though."

Ono shook his head. "Well then, he's not 'peachy' then."

"Eehh? Master, a broken leg aint that bad!"

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Ayase felt like a bolt of lightning had just gone through his heart the moment that new man had come through the door. What an aura that man had! Like sunshine, like strength like love and like passion! Ayase had never seen such a brilliant and untainted aura on an adult before. And yet there was still a frament of darkness around the edges, like this man had gone through something in his life, like he had been someone else before, and now was becoming who he truely wanteed to be. Ayase was nothing short of stunned.

'I need to talk to that man,' Ayase thought to himself, 'I need to know him. I have to know him.'

('Is everything alright?') Ayumu's voice in his head so suddenly made him jump, and this made the other boy chuckle. ('Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you.')

('It's... Nothing.')

Ayumu nodded and took a sip of the tea he had ordered to go with his cake. "Of course not."


	11. Chapter 11

You're all going to hate me after this chapter. Please regard me kindly.

* * *

On the way home, Ayase thought of nothing but a certain Eiji Kanda. Ayumu didn't interrupt the other boy's thoughts, and was careful to let him know that he could hear them either. He had tried to respect Ayase's privacy and block him out entirely, but the emotion behind the thoughts was so strong that the thoughts were projecting themselves at him. He other boy was confused by his own feelings, but Ayumu understood them; Ayase had found his Mate. He sighed mentally, knowing that Ayase would have a tough time, not only falling for a man, but also for someone so much older than themselves.

As they were headed up the driveway back to the Trivial Property, the door burst open and Ayumu's father came running out of the house, carrying a groaning Jirou. Ren and Ryuu, the latter of whom had Suzu in his arms, and was clutching her a bit tighter than seemed necessary. Kunimitsu spotted them and called out ahead of them as he carefully placed Jirou in the car, "Atobe-san is going into labour! Shusuke is calling Atobe. I'm taking these four to Dr. Hatchett's." And with that, they were all loaded up into the car and gone. Ayumu had never seen his father drive so fast.

"Come on, come on, come on," Shusuke repeated as the phone continued to ring. Atobe had not picked up on his cellphone, and so Shusuke had called his work, and was now waiting for the lazy secretary to patch him through to Atobe's line.

"Atobe Keigo's office, Ore-sama speaking," Atobe said, and barely managed to finish his greeting when Shusuke erupted at him.

"Atobe-san, you need to get to Dr. Hatchett's house!" Shusuke said, frantically, "It's Jirou!"

"Jirou?! What is--" Shusuke didn't need to say anything as in a split second it hit Atobe like a brick wall thrown at him by a baby Superman. "...It's... too early for that."

"Trust me," Shusuke sighed, "Babies don't care if it's 'time' or not." His voice quieted a bit. "He needs you though. Atobe, you're right about it being to early; he could..."

"Ore-sama knows." There was a slight pause. "Thank you, Shusuke. You've been very kind to him. Even after I..."

"Your sins are not his, and I don't blame you any longer for what you did to Kunimitsu. We were young, and it was competition. Now go to Jirou."

"... Right." And then the other line went dead as Atobe hung up the phone.

* * *

Ayumu said a goodbye to Ayase, worried about Jirou-oji-san, and then resolved that he needed to go see his sempai more than he needed to worry about the new baby coming along. It wasn't like he could help with that anyway. So, he headed upstairs to his and Sora's room, intent on seeing how the sick boy was fairing since he had left. And to apologize for leaving in the first place.

He felt terrible, not only about leaving his sempai in his time of need, but for enjoying himself. He should not have been out enjoying himself with Ayase even if the other boy had honestly seemed to need him (after all, who else's could Ayase properly communicate with?) and even if Noboru-sempai had said that he should go. That was no excuse. Ayumu began taking the steps two at a time.

"Sempai!" Ayumu shouted as he burst through the door the scent of his mate filling his nose and making him act what he might consider later to be a bit foolish. Sora, still flushed with a slight fever, looked up to see Ayumu's smiling face, and was confused. Excited to see his boyfriend happy, but confused.

"Ayumu, wha--" He was cut off as Ayumu covered his lips with his own. Sora moaned slightly into his boyfriend's mouth, feeling more than a bit aroused by this new side Ayumu was portraying. Still, some part of him was still practical. "Ayumu, you can't be kissing mew now, you could get yourself sick."

"If I'm going to get sick, I've already gotten it," Ayumu said, kissing Sora again. Sora tried and failed to resist the freshman's charms. Soon, they were kissing heatedly. Sora knew he had to stop, he knew that he had to, but---

He pulled Ayumu onto the bed with him.

* * *

Atobe entered Dr. Hatchett's house without knocking. He knew by now (not that he cared at the moment) that knocking in this situation was about as useful as hitting his head against a brick wall and hoping that it somehow made a coconut fall down. Okay, so maybe he wasn't in the right frame of mind to be making analogies. So what.

He headed down the hallway to where he saw his other children waiting outside of what he knew to be the birthing room. Little Suzu came running to him, but he only gave her a quick hug before telling her that he had to check on her mama. She seemed to be worried about Jirou, but Atobe knew that she didn't really understand what was going on. Or how dire the situation really was. At that moment Ryuu came over and gently extracted the young girl from her father's arms. Atobe nodded his thanks to his oldest son and headed into the birthing room.

Jirou's breathing was erratic, but he settled down slightly the moment he felt his husband's presence in the room. "K-Kei...go..."

Atobe was immediately at his side. "Yes, Only One? I'm here." Jirou held Atobe's hand so tightly that it hurt, but Atobe said nothing of it.

"Kei...go, I'm... Scared," Jirou gasped, a look of pain coming across his face as another contraction hit.

"I know, Ji-chan," Atobe said and hesitated slightly before quietly adding, "So am I."

Dr. Hatchett looked at the two seriously. "It's time."

* * *

"We can't do this," Sora whispered, winded and flushed for a reason other than his sickness. "You're too young, Ayumu."

"No, I'm not," Ayumu answered breathily, "I've... grown at the rate of a bird all of my life. Physically, I am a child... But mentally, I am older... Even than you." He closed his eyes as a wave of pleasure rolled over him, caused by Sora accidentally brushing a hand against his crotch.

Ayumu's moan spurred Sora's own passion and he felt it increasingly hard to fight his own need. "... Damn it."

He hoped Ayumu wouldn't regret this in the morning.

* * *

Atobe smiled down at his tired out love, and at the little one that Jirou held in his arms. "Are you ready to let the children in?"

"Yes," Jirou said, his voice hoarse from screaming. He was infinitely glad that the room they were in was soundproofed. Atobe smiled at him and opened the door for their children to enter.

Suzu bounded up to the bed immediately, and Atobe was forced to keep her from hurting Jirou or the baby by holding her back. He then informed her that 'Mama' had a 'very bad ouchy' and that she had to be careful. The little four-year-old nodded. Ouchys, she understood.

Ren and Ryuu, on the other hand, approached the bed slowly, looking excited, anxious and... afraid. Atobe was confused by seeing this in them, as it was a feeling that he felt had no place here, not now that they knew that both Jirou and the baby (though grantedly quite small) were alright. Jirou, however, seemed to not see this in them and becked them closer with a smile. "Come on," he sad, and they complied, "Come meet your new baby sister."

"N-no..." Ren said, taking a step backwards, a hand covering his mouth and tears springing to his eyes. "No..." He was trembling and shaking his head in disbelief. "Oh, God, no..." Tears pouring from his eyes, the younger of the two twins turned on his heels and ran from the room.

Ryuu, meanwhile, was stand in shock until finally everything hit him at once and he sank to the ground, taking his head into his hands as dispair washed over him in abundance. "Oh God..."

* * *

**Please don't hate me. Please just keep in mind that the series isn't over yet. Also, the lemon will once again not be included in this story. If enough people ask for it, I will write it and post it on my other account as a one shot. Alright, sorry again.**


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

**Kinda short, me thinks, but VERY important.**

* * *

**  
**"Ryuu, talk to me. Right now." Atobe demanded, his eyes flashing angrily at his oldest child. "What the heck is gonig on?!"

Ryuu took a deep breath and then gasped, "Ren, you never told me--"

"Dr. Hatchett caught him," Atobe said, his eyes softening only the slightest bit. "Ryuu, you've got your mother in the room worried sick about the reaction you and Ren just had to your new little sister. I don't know what your reason for reacting like that was, but that was not acceptable."

"I know," Ryuu answered, and his father nodded, proud that he recognized his own fault and did not make up excuses for himself. Ryuu sighed. They would have had to face the music eventually anyway. At least this way Ren wouldn't have to be involved. "... Ren is my mate."

Atobe's expression did not change, his business face, honed from years and years of the 'training' his parents had given him did not falter. Without missing a beat he said, "Go on."

"We... I didn't want him to get hurt. I didn't want to form a relationship and then be unable to produce an heir, or cause a unfavorable position for the company or... Or have you and Mother hate us..." He watched his father closely for a reaction and continued when he got none. "So, I made a deal with him... That we wouldn't get together unless there was another possible heir. Unless the baby was a boy."

Things made sense to Atobe now. Ren's over the top reaction to seeing the baby. How he hadn't reacted like that until he saw that it was a girl. For a moment Atobe didn't react. He thought about Jirou and what Jirou would do at this moment. That, of course, was obvious; Jirou jump up, arms wrapped around their son, and assure him in a quiet voice that everything was okay.

Atobe couldn't do that.

"Are you stupid?" Ryuu looked up at his father, and, for the first time, was met with the gaze of Atobe Keigo's 'ore-sama' facade. Atobe's eyes were of a hard steel and his expression equally hard. "If you want something you need to go for it and disregard all consequences. Have I taught you nothing?!"

Ryuu stood there, stunned, for a moment. His father was... telling him to go for it, in his own, strange way. As this finally hit him, Ryuu smiled.

"Hai, arigatou, Otou-san."

Ryuu made his way to the room that he shared with his brother carefully, slowly, trying to decide what to say along the way. Nothing was coming to him. He opened the door to the room... And stopped in his tracks. "What are you doing?"

He knew what Ren was doing, it was obvious. He was packing.

Ren didn't answer.

"Ren, talk to me, where are you planning to go?"

"... Elsewhere." Ren answered in a quiet tone. "I can't... I can't do this. I'm sorry Ryuu, but I--" He shook his head, the beginning of tears in his eyes. He stood up to leave, brushed out the door, past Ryuu, and began his way down the hallway.

"Ren!!" Ryuu shouted out, his stunned body finally kicking into action. He rushed after his twin down the hallway and wrapped his arms tightly around Ren's waist. "I love you! I've always loved you, and I will always love you. I know that, you know that, and I don't care what anyone else says or thinks! I don't care about our parents, or the company, or our damn, stupid bet! I don't care. I love you, and I want to be with you!"

Ren was stunned for a moment, and then he smiled. "I love you too, Ryuu, forever and always." And he turned around and gave his brother a long kiss, one that he'd been waiting for for a long time.

* * *

'Loosey-Goosey' was to only way to really explain how Ayumu looked that morning. He had a very uncharacteristic grin on his face, and he was walking as if on cloud nine. Even a fool could tell that Ayumu was in a ridiculously good mood, and as humans (yes, even positives) tended to do, rumors were flying. Naturally, Shusuke felt the need to confront his son about it. However, Kunimitsu knew that with Shusuke's over-protective nature, that was sure to make Ayumu draw into himself. And with how Ayumu had seemed to be doing so much better, especially since Sora (though Shusuke was willing to admit that, he knew it too), Kunimitsu subtly, but firmly suggested that he be the one to talk to Ayumu.

For a whole minute, neither Ayumu nor Kunimitsu said anything. Finally, to Ayumu's great relief, Kunimitsu began to speak. "I want to know that you're sure about this."

"I am," Ayumu said, resolutely. He thought, "But, Papa... Something strange happened yesterday, too."

"Oh?" An eyebrow rose.

"When I got home from being with Ayase... The moment I smelled Sempai, I..." He blushed.

"Ah," Kunimitsu said, and smiled. That explained it. "You don't need to worry. Your senses are going to be naturally more sensitive when it come to your mate. That is why we all try to stick close to our mates as often as possible. The reaction will not be as... intense, as you've been around Noboru-kun longer," Kunimitsu assured him. "But, Ayumu... I... Shusuke and I are worried about Noboru-kun, because he's not..."

"A positive," Ayumu nodded. "I know." He wondered whether or not Sora was awake yet.

* * *

At that moment, in fact, Sora was waking up, and was disappointed to find himself alone, Ayumu no where in sight. Sora saw the note soon after that, which read: 'Went to breakfast. Rest up.' and was signed with Ayumu's name. He sighed, and settled onto his pillow once again. Last night had been... Amazing, but it had left him with one lingering doubt.

Ayumu was not like he was. Ayumu was a Positive, and he was not. He remembered Ayumu's gorgeous wings and how... But he wasn't like that. Sora, he hated to say, was just a normal human, and could never measure up to Ayumu, and they could never love each other on equal terms. He understood that Ayumu was strong, and intelligent, and on a whole-nother level than he was, and he hated to feel like he wasn't good enough. Because he knew that he wasn't good enough. Not for Ayumu.

Sora scribbled a quick note, saying he had to stop by his Mother's house for a bit, and left the Trivial Property.

* * *

Yusuke Ono sighed into Chikage's kiss. This was heaven, this was--

"Ono! Wake up!"

--A dream.

"There's some mute kid here," Tachibana (no, not from POT!) said. "Kanda says--"

"Master!" Kanda yelled, coming into the kitchen, "It's that boy! From yesterday!"

Ono nodded to let his apprentice know that he knew who he was talking about. Kanda had talked about nothing but that boy yesterday after the two young boys had left, of course he remembered. On one hand, Ono was worried, because it was rather unconventional for Kanda to fall for someone so much younger, but on the other hand, he figured that is was somehow related to Eiji Kanda's 'animalness'. (Yes, he's a positive.)

Ono grabbed a piece of paper and pencil and headed out to see what the young boy needed. He handed the paper and writing utensil to the boy after a quick greeting. Ayase wrote for a moment, and then held it up for Ono to see.

'I would like to work here part-time. Please.'

* * *

Meanwhile, Sora had reached his destination, and it wasn't his house. He took a deep breath and headed up the front steps, knocking loudly, with confidence, when he reached the door.

"Yes? Oh, Noboru-kun," A man with thick glasses answered with a small smile.

Sora nodded to Inui in acknowledgment.

"How can I help you?"

Sora took another deep breath. "I want to become a positive. I want you to help me."

Inui's 'evil-scientist grin widened. "Kaoru's out right now. Come on in."

* * *

**  
Ah, the plot thickens! Until next time!  
**

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

**Kinda short, me thinks, but VERY important.**

* * *

**  
**  
Ayumu was depressed. It had been a week. A week! A week since he and Sora had had their first night of... intamacy.

And now he'd hardly seen the junior in a week. He was always running off, always said he was busy... And it hurt. It hurt terribly, because this was what Ayumu had been fearing all along. That Sora would wake up one day and realize that Ayumu wasn't worth it. Ayumu felt that he should have known that this happiness wouldn't last.

('I'm going to go to work now,') Ayase's voice said in Ayumu's head. Ayase didn't bother to wait for an answer; Ayumu had spoken to no one in three days, since the last time Sora had been home. Sora had called and left messages for the younger boy, but Ayumu had not been available, and so contact between Ayumu and his mate had been non-existant. ('Alright then...') Ayase ruffled Ayumu's hair affectionately, and then left for work without another word.

Ayumu just curled up into a tighter ball.

* * *

"We're close," Inui said, looking at Sora, who was just waking up from the effects of their last test. They'd been at this for a week, and since the last three days had been a three day weekend for Sora, they hadn't stopped for more then two hours at any point since Friday. Sora looked at him expectantly, waiting for Inui to tell him the newest theory. He was tired, and he wanted to go back to Ayumu. He missed him terribly.

"We've already discovered that you do not naturally have the DNA of a positive in your blood" Inui stated, matter-of-factly, "And so simulating the earthquake that originally caused most of the adult positives you know to change will do nothing." Sora frowned, feeling impatient from lack of both sleep and Ayumu. "However, The thing that really makes a positive a positive is an extra chromosome somewhere in their DNA. This is a type of trisomy, and though trisomy can normally have crippling effects on a human body, in this case it merely changes things, understand?"

Sora didn't, but nodded anyway. He didn't care about what Inui did, as long as it worked.

"And so, if we extract some of your DNA, change it, and then replace it, it will probably turn you into a natural positive."

"Probably?"

"It might also have a negative effect."

"... And you have the ability to do this?" Sora asked.

"I do."

Sora nodded, "Then let's do this."

* * *

Yasuo was quite content, yes he was. Sure, is legs were falling asleep, and, alright, he had to pee really, really bad, but still... He was feeling good. Kaito was sleeping on his legs.

Yasuo was skipping school today. Partially because he couldn't move without waking Kaito, and since Kaito didn't have school today... Needless to say, Yasuo wasn't goin gto let an entire day with his lover go by, without taking advantage of it. He just hoped that his parents didn't find out. Yeah, he was already in trouble with them over the last time he had skipped school to go see Kaito.

Yasuo smilied, thinking about that time. That had been real fun. He had spent an hour freaking Kaito out by showing up outside his classroom at random intervals, making him yell out and get in trouble. Oh, but then Kaito had gotten mad at Yasuo... And that had been no bueno...

He looked back down at his sleeping love and smiled. Even the bad times were worth it though. Definitely worth it.

* * *

Adrian McClain was quite bored, really. He clicked a few buttons on his laptop, but no new information came to him. It was all things that he'd known for over a week now. About Bade, about Ryan, and about the other 'positives', as they so quaintly refered to themselves. But, he figured he had enough information anyway. Enough to know where all of them were at all times, and which would put up the least amount of resistance. And who would no doubt come after him, if they were taken. And that was all he had been asked to do, really. He was just waiting now, until the person who had asked him to do the job showed up, so he could deliver his information and get payed.

Right on time, a black ferrari pulled up to the school, and the door opened to him. He slid into the car and promptly handed over the information to the sneeky-looking businessman waiting for him. The man grinned maniacly as he looked over the papers.

"Do you know how long I have been waiting for this?" Adrian rolled his eyes. Of course he knew, how could he forget, when this insane man ranted about that everytime he saw him? "Twelve years," the man continued, not noticing how Adrian rolled his eyes, "I've waited twelve years. More then twelve years, really. The first wave we sent out was a flop. Only a handful changed, and none of them had proper offspring. And then the next batch came, over thirty years later, but all them were sealed off, those bastards, but the group after that... They were the right ones. They were the ones that managed to do it, and now, twelve years later, it's finally time. Time to harvest the natural offspring."

* * *

Sora slowly opened his eyes. He remembered watching Inui fiddle with his DNA under a microscope, and then, after 18 hours, Inui finally had found what he was looking for. And then had injected Sora with the changed compound. He couldn't remember anything after that, so he assumed he had passed out.

He sat up groggily, rubbing his head. It was pounding, and his entire body felt tired. He looked around slowly, noticing that Inui was not in the room. And it was dark outside. How long had he been asleep? He shook his head, and immediately regreted it, feeling dizzy. He lay back down and closed his eyes, hoping that it would ease the pain in his skull.

He was soon awakened by the movement of someone entering the room. He opened his eyes to be met with an emotionless looking Inui.

"You're awake," The scientist remarked calmly, the slightest smile --or was it a smirk?-- coming over his face.

"Yeah," Sora grumbled. "My head feels like it just split in two..."

Inui chuckled. "I know."

Sora looked at him hopefully. "Well?"

"See for yourself," Inui answered. He held up a small mirror so that the boy could see his reflection.

Sora gasped.

* * *

**  
Okay, for those of you (and I certainly won't name names) who usually miss the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) foreshadowing, go read the second to last section again. If you've forgotten Adrian McClain, go back and read the last section wide Bade and Ryan in it. Okay? Good. He's VERY important. Trust me.  
**

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

**Alright babes, this is gonna be the last update for a while, I'm afraid to say. I'm leaving today to go to Japan (I don't know if I told you all this before) and I won't be back for a couple of weeks. Sorry!  
**

* * *

It was cold, but Ayumu didn't care. No, he wasn't even thinking about that, because Sora had asked to meet with him. He was happy and scared and excited and nervous. This could mean everything for him. This could make or break him, really. He wondered what he would do if Sora... No, it hurt to even think about that. But that was probably what was going to happen. He tried to swallow a whimper, and failed.

And then arms were wrapped around him from behind, and Ayumu stilled himself.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ayumu relaxed slightly. It was just Sora. He turned around and burried his head into Sora's chest. He knew that thiscould very well be the last time that he got to have Sora hold him.

"A-are... You gonna... Leave me?" He asked slowly, quietly, nervous and scared.

"What? No!" Sora said, and patted the other's head softly. "Look up, Ayumu, and then you'll see why I was away for so long."

Ayumu looked up obedianly and his eyes widened. He raised his hands up to feel the scales around Sora's eyes. He whispered, in awe, "What...?"

"Inui-san and I have been working very hard," Sora smiled, "I wanted to be one too, you know. To be like you, so that we could be equals in all things." It was funny, but he felt even more attracted to Ayumu now, and more in love than ever, something he hadn't thought possible.

"What are you?" Ayumu asked in that same whisper of a voice.

"I don't know yet," Sora said, "My body... My body wasn't ment to be this way, naturally, so most of the changes are coming slowly. Inui-san said that it should be obvious in a couple of days, at most."

"This is... Amazing," Ayumu breathed, a smile coming over his face. "So... All this time...?"

"I've been with Inui-san, figuring out how to do this," Sora confirmed. "I wanted..." He sighed, "Before, it didn't feel... Equal. I want to be able to be on the same terms as you, Ayumu, to be able to understand the things that you feel." He leaned down to put his lips near the other boy's ear. "I love you, Ayumu."

"Do you mean that?" Ayumu asked. Sora was a positive now... Did that mean that he had a mate as well?

"Of course I do," Sora said, kissing him softly. Ayumu kissed back, tears of joy streaming down his face.

* * *

Kaito had decided to do something bold. Something really bold. Something phenominally bold. Well, alright, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but, for him, it was. He was skipping school, hoping a bus across town and visiting Yasuo for a change. Yeah, really, he was. What, you don't believe it? Well, right at that moment, he was only a block away from Hyotei's actual entrance, and was approaching the point where he was to hope the gates soon. Then, by pure luck, he spotted Yasuo through the gates, taking a nap underneath one of the school's massive cherryblossom trees.

"Yasu--" Kaito's voice was cut off then, as a hand holding a cloth was placed over his mouth and nose firmly. Knowing how wrong this was and scared, he tried not to breathe in and struggled, but was getting no where. Yasuo had heard him though, and was looking at him with wide, terrified and angry eyes.

Kaito saw it as Yasuo stood up and headed towards him, shifting forms, at an incredible speed. However, before he could reach the fence, Kaito had lost his battle and had breathed in from the cloth, and unconsciousness had taken him. He would know no more for many hours.

* * *

Gakuto had a bad feeling. A really bad feeling. Like something bad had just happened, and something worse was about to happen. He tried to shake it off, but it just wouldn't leave him and the shadows crept out from him. He had learned to control them well since his youth, but when he had feelings like this, they still seemed to develop a mind of their own, doing as they pleased, but always defending him and those he held dear. The nightmares were few and far between these days, and when they came, he could rest assured that Yuushi would be there for him all the while, and of course when he awoke.

Then he heard it, a small scream from Narumi's bedroom, from his little baby. He was moving immediately, discarding the food he was cooking, the shadows turning off the oven with a quiet click as Gakuto ran into his baby girl's room. His heart was pounding harder than it ever had before.

There was a man in there, holding Narumi, his Narumi, and she was screaming her little lungs out. Gakuto didn't think, but acted immediately, and the shadows fell upon the man, startling him, and he dropped the little girl in his surprise. She was caught in a shadowy embrace and brought back to the safety of Gakuto's own arms.

"Who are you," He asked, his voice a deadly hiss. The man only looked at him, dark eyes and masked face appearing nothing but angry, and then the man did something suprising; He brushed the shadows from him like they were made of silk and he was out the window. Gakuto dropped to his knees, Narumi still sobbing, terrified, in his arms, shocked and trembling a bit himself. Realizing the state of his baby girl, he rocked her softly and cooed to her in a comforting way, hushing her cries as the shadows retreated back into himself.

He stood up, knowing that there wre now two things that he needed to do. First, he needed to get the the Trivial Property, where he knew that he and his baby could find security. Secondly, he really needed to call Yuushi. He didn't care if Yuushi could or couldn't come to them (though he probably would, even if he had to cancel all of his classes for the rest of the day), he just needed to hear his tensai's voice. And a hug would be nice. If Yuushi could manage. Gakuto really needed it just then.

* * *

Shizuka wasn't sure for zeveral moments exactly what was happening to her. She knew that the hands grasping her were holding too tightly, and that they were not familiar hands, but it took her mind a half a second to realize that this person was trying to take her. She tried to use her power then, to get the man to drop her, but he was behind her, and they had covered her mouth. Her powers could not be used without eye-contact or her voice. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to struggle. Finally, she was hit over the head and fell unconscious. Her nearby PE class somehow missed the entire thing.

* * *

"Kazuki Niou to the disiplinary office, please," The voice crackled over the announcement speaker. "Kazuki Niou, to the disiplinary office."

Kazuki grinned as his teacher gave him a 'what-did-you-do-now' look. He hadn't thought that they'd catch him this time... He'd been extra careful not to leve any evidence when he left those frogs in Mis Kiri's, the music teacher, desk, after all. Darn. Oh well, it was good for his reputation.

Jackal Kuwahara often wondered why he had decided to become a elementary school teacher, a job which really wasn't like him at all. And then he got a student like Kazuki, who was exactly like his father in so many ways, and he remembered that it was because he wouldn't wish students like that on anyone else. "Go, Niou-kun," he said, pointing to the door. With a half smirk, half malicious grin, Kazuki headed out, his messy hair bouncing about on his head lazily.

He took his time down the empty hallway, danving around, practicing his moonwalk and playing the air-guitar like a champion air-rockstar. When he finally got the the disiplinary office, he opened the door leisurely, ready to greet his favorite disiplinary teachers with a smile and a wave, like always.

What happened was that he had a bag placed over his head and was knocked unconscious. His final thought was that he knew they couldn't have caught him this time...

* * *

Atsuko had been having a somewhat normal day, really. At lest, it was normal until someone grabbed her as she was walking by a bush and had gagged her. No, that she had not been expecting. She didn't struggle. She knew better, that this person was much to large for her and she would only get herself hurt. She would wait for the right moment, and then escape. If she waited, there would be an opening.

"That's it," a man's voice said, her captor's, "Just be a good girl, I gots tah wait fer me partnah tah gets yer brother. Atsuko's eyes narrowed in hate and she vowed that if they hurt Ayumu she would make them rue the day they were born.

* * *

'12:30, The Rooftop.'

That had been all that the note had said, and Ryan had to admit that he was curious. It didn't look, or smell, Gods Ryan hated perfume on letters, like a love note or anything, so... It was interesting, to say the least. And so, when 12:30 came around Ryan had slipped away from Bade (not an easy thing to do) and was currently headed up the stairs. He opened the door and was met with...

A smiling Adrian McClain.

"Hello, Ryan," Adrian said, a close-eyes smile on his face, "I"m terribly sorry about calling you out like this, I hate to be inconvieniencing you, but we need to talk." Ryan was stiff and suspicious. Bade hadn't told him much about what Adrian had said to him, but Ryan had seen... "Please, come sit with me," Adrian said, still smiling as he patted the place on the roof beside him.

Ryan sat, still being cautious.

Adrian turned to look at Ryan, looking serious. "Since I met you and your brother, I've don't some things that I'm not proud of. Kissing Bade was one of them, and I'm sorry about that. I... I like you, and Bade too, but foolishly when I saw you come around the corner... I wanted to make you jealous. I wanted to put a wedge between the two of you and slip in, if I could." Adrian let out a humourless laugh. "Stupid, I know."

Ryan's eyes softened a bit and he opened his mouth to say something when a hand was put over his mouth and he breathed in involuntarily, falling unconcious almost immediately. Adrian sighed, his eyes apraising the unconscious body silently.

"I truely am sorry, Ryan," he said, stroking his hand through the other's hair, as ssaid boy slumped back into the arms of the lacky who drugged him. "But it will be alright. I won't let him hurt you, or Bade. Very soon the three of us will be together, and everything will be alright. You'll see."

He sighed, brought his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Bade's number. The henchmen moved to stand at the door, ready to knock the positive out when he came.

And Adrian would make sure that he came.

* * *

**  
See? I told you Adrian was important to the story. Any comments? I'd love to hear what you think of him. Is he worse than Ayame, from Trivial Pulse?  
**

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

* * *

**Well, I'm back, and I've got to say... I LOVE this chapter, especially the last section. Please enjoy.  
**

* * *

Ayumu opened his eyes slowly, a bright light that shown in his face making it painful to do so. He blinked several times, trying to remember what had happened to him. There were murmuring voices all around him, and he tried to understand them, but his head was still too muddled. Oh so slowly, everything began to come into focus.

The first thing that he noticed was that his wings were out. The second thing that caught his attention was that he was definitely not in the tennis club locker room with Sora anymore. And finally he realized that the voices all around him were actually those of other positive children, many of whom were swarmed around him, asking him questions with worried looks on their faces.

Atsuko's voice stood out to him above the rest. "Are you alright, Ayumu?" He tried to nod, not daring to try his voice, but it merely made his head spin.

"Take it easy," This time it was Ryan by his side, and he helped Ayumu to sit up. Ayumu looked around the room as his head cleared, taking into accound who was there. Kaito, Shizuka, Kazuki, Ryan, Atsuko, and Bade, fuming in the corner.

('Where...?') Ayumu asked, reaching out with his mind.

"I don't know," Atsuko admitted, "We were taken back these people in black... Honestly, I'm a little surprised your power is working, Ayumu... The rest of ours have been blocked."

"They probably couldn't block it," Shizuka said wisely, "Ayumu's power has been there since birth... The rest of us developed ours as we grew... His is probably deeper embedded."

"Hmm," Atsuko agreed simply, and that was the end of that. They didn't have time for idle chatter; they needed a plan.

"Darn it," Bade said, slamming his fist onto the floor. "Of all freaking people... I knew he was trouble..." Ayumu looked at Bade curiously, but Atsuko just shook her head.

Ryan, however, was not dissuaded at all and made his way over to Bade's side. Bade growled softly, but Ryan ignored it, placing a hand on his twin's shoulder. As only two people extremely close could do, Ryan seemed to be communicating to his brother without words. Ryan's eyes were sad, pleading with Bade not to act like this. They all knew that nothing good could come out of Bade's anger. Even Bade knew it, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Please," Ryan whispered, looking at Bade as if no one else existed in the world.

"... Why did you go, Ryan? Why didn't you tell me...?" Bade asked, his voice was mostly calm now and he sounded almost lost, as if he too had forgotten the other people in the room.

"I didn't know it was Adrian," Ryan said softly, "I was just interested by the note, so I went. And I knew that you wouldn't let me go if I had asked you..."

"But you lowered your guard! Ryan, you know how manipulating he is, and still you..." Bade trailed off, grumbling unhappily.

"But he..." 'Seemed so sincere'. The rest of the sentence went unsaid, and Ryan knew that he couldn't say it, even if he hadn't known that Bade would blow up. But it was true. Adrian had had such a look on his face... And Ryan knew that he must have tampered with the amount of drugs Ryan had been given; he had been fairly clear headed when he awoke, like waking up from a nice nap. Things just didn't add up, especially when he looked at the other kids, a few of whom had quite impressive bumps from how they were knocked out. And then Bade, who had also been knocked out by force, had a much smaller bump than the others. Like he had only been hit hard enough to make him falter, and then had been given such a small amount of drugs that no one had even noticed them.

No, something was definitely going on here. And Ryan needed to figure it out fast. Because nobody knew what was going to happen next.

--

Sora was in a state of absolute rage and panic. Ayumu had had been taken, right from under his very fingers! Suddenly he heard a phone ringing and it brought him out of his self-hating thoughts for just a moment. It was Ayumu's phone, fallen to the floor not four feet away.

Suddenly, Sora remembered Ayumu's family. They needed to know what had happened. He pounced on the phone.

He didn't even have a chance to say anything before Shusuke Tezuka's voice was coming over the line, sounding worried. "Ayumu? Come home, now. There's something really bad happening. Kids are disappearing. Come home right now, alr--"

"Tezuka-san," Sora interrupted. "Ayumu's gone. They... They took him."

"Oh... my God," Shusuke's voice said softly, and then there was a moment of silence.

"Noburo-kun," Kunimitsu Tezuka's voice said, sounding as calm as ever, "Come back to the property, quickly. We have not been able to get through on Atsuko's cellphone, so we must assume that they have her as well. I doubt that they know about your existence yet, but we can't take any chances."

Sora knew that they didn't know, and that they wouldn't come after him, but at the same time, he needed to go back and figure out if the others knew anything. "Yes, Sir, I'll be there soon." He hung up Ayumu's phone and pocketed it, heading out of the locker room.

--

Shusuke bit his lip to keep from crying as Kunimitsu took the phone from him. They had his babies, both of his babies, and a whole handful of the other kids. Kaito, Shizuka, Kazuki, Ryan and Bade... At the very least. Some of the other kids hadn't been reached yet, some of the younger kids who didn't have cellphones were still out and about and not yet accounted for. Every time a new child came in through the doors their parents would look so relieved, Eiji cried in relief every time another of his babies came home safely to him. Still, even as Jasony, Cindy and Chiyo came home, and knowing that Arata and Isamu were sleeping not two rooms away, he was inconsolable when he realized that Kaito was not going to come back through those doors, not yet, because they had him.

Jasony was in a similar state, though it was more frustration, anger and fear that gripped him, knowing that his mate, Atsuko was in the hands of these people, who would steal a baby from it's crib. Or would have, had Gakuto's powers not worked quickly enough. Gakuto was greatly shaken as well, but also angry. Yuushi had a hard time convincing him for a long while to wait and not immediately charge out and extract revenge, as well as save the other children. Yuushi had nearly lost his family today, and he wasn't about to risk it again, if he could help it. It was a pure miracle that the man who had come to take Narumi was not committed enough to attack Gakuto regardless of the shadows.

None of the children from Hyotei, it seemed, had been taken. Probably, they had decided, because Hyotei was, as a private school, a bit more secure than the other schools the kids went. Ren and Ryuu remained closer to each other even then normal, neither ever letting the other more than two feet away. Shusuke could understand their nervousness. The others who had been taken were all right around their age.

And there were no guarantees that this kidnappings were over.

--

Sadaharu Inui was worried for two very important reasons: A) Sora Noburo, who, though the kidnappers didn't yet know it, would be very valuable to them, should they figure out just what type of DNA was infused in him and, more importantly, B) his pregnant lover was out there as well, and still hadn't called to check in. The very idea of that made Inui shake slightly with a barely hidden fear. This wasn't like Kaoru at all... He always called, especially since he had gotten pregnant, because he knew that Inui worried about him when he didn't. Even when there wasn't a catastrophic TPP kidnapping incident going on.

All Inui could think about what that if he was in the kidnappers shoes, and not about to post a ransom (too many of the kids were from normal, middle-class families for that, and it couldn't be a coincidence that they were all positives) he would certainly want to capture a pregnant positive for observation and testing. And Kaoru was the only pregnant positive not already accounted for. Eiji, who he knew had recently discovered he was yet again pregnant, was safely nestled, still crying, in Oishi's arms, Jirou had already had his baby, and Shusuke, who Inui was almost positive was pregnant again, though neither he nor Tezuka had said anything yet, was also pacing around the entry hall. So Kaoru...

Sora came in at that moment, looking slightly winded, and Inui allowed himself to breath one sigh of relief. "Sora," he said, "I'm glad you're alright. If they had got you..."

"They wouldn't want me," Sora said, "They could have taken me, but they didn't."

"They don't know yet," Inui nodded, "But if they did... You would be much more valuable to them than any of the other children..."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Because of what you are..." Sora's eyes widened a fraction. Was Inui finally going to tell him the sercets of his DNA?

--

Kaoru Inui slowly awoke to a bright light in a seemingly entirely white room. For a moment he was too dizzy to really do anything, and struggled to move. Suddenly, hands were holding him down from all directions and he couldn't move even the slightest bit. Still, this only freaked him out more and he tried to struggle harder. Then he felt a needle in his arm and everything began to go dark. As he fell into unconsciousness, he heard a voice that chilled him to the bone.

"Please do not fret, Kaoru Inui-san, we're not going to hurt you or your baby...

"Not yet, at least."

--

Adrian looked through the one-way mirror at the children and was surprised at how badly some of them had been hurt being brought in here. He had been told that all of them would be lightly drugged, like Bade and Ryan had been. "You said you weren't going to hurt them," he whispered softly, the old man who had originally talked him into this just laughed cruelly.

"And have I broken my word? I haven't laid a finger on a single one of them," The man, whose name was Dougal Smithson.

Adrian turned on him and growled, "And telling others to hurt them is any better?! You told me you wouldn't hurt any of them! You told me that this was just for a few little tests and then you'd let them go. You said that I could be free, and mate with Bade and Ryan!"

"Ah, that is where, I do intend to break my word. You see, Adrian, you're too valuable to me now, I can't imply let you go... And not Bade, or Ryan, or any of the other children either," Smithson had a bit of a crazy look in his eyes, and Adrian struck out at him, his claws extending and catching the over middle-aged man on the cheek, leaving three long and deep gashes. Men moved to restrain Adrian immediately and Smithson, looking outraged, red in the face with anger, covered his bleeding cheek.

"Get him out of here," he roared, "Through him in with the other children!"

Adrian paled. Bade would surely kill him on sight.

He may have been a caracal cat by birth, but at that moment, he felt like a rabbit about to be thrown to the wolves.

* * *

**  
So, a few new plot twists... What do you all think? Again, I want to know what you think of Adrian _now_. What do you think, will Bade just kill him? Is Ryan right about his sincerity?  
**

* * *


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